For You Maria
by Thoughtful Tikal
Summary: "Her life wasn't supposed to take the direction that it had; surely it was all just one big mistake..."  Shadow will try whatever it takes to bring back his one and only friend. Even if it means taking a visit to a certain tarot card reader.
1. Chapter 1

People are born into this world, and they leave once its their time. This is always how the cycle of life sequences.

There are two young girls in particular who are either missed or forgotten. The first was a pleasant human girl named Maria Robotnik, granddaughter of the ARK's creator known as Gerald Robotnik.

Her life wasn't supposed to take the direction that it had; surely it was all just one big mistake.

At the time of her death, Maria were only about 13 years old. She was innocent and young-minded, oblivious of GUN soldiers arriving to annihilate her friend Shadow The Hedgehog.

Professor Gerald had taken matters into his own hands and went to the demonic being named Black Doom. Together his DNA and Black Doom's powers made what Shadow is now.

Sure, the lone hedgehog had been concocted by the helping hands of evil, but still doing wrongful things weren't his intentions.

From Earth's point of view, this crimson and ebony hedgehog was seen as a serious threat to all mankind. Nobody understood why he'd been created to begin with. So it was the GUN organization's decision to wipe him off the face of the Earth.

None of the other humans besides Maria's grandfather and herself knew about Shadow's nicer side. He'd been created specifically to rid Maria of a fatal illness she was carrying; there wasn't a crime in that.

So as Maria stood in front of Shadow, protecting him if it meant so much as her life, that's just what the cold-hearted GUN soldier aiming a silver pistol at her took away. They'd warned Maria to save herself by moving out of the way, but of course she didn't listen to them; so her consequence ended with the noise of a single gun shot.

The second female to have moved on into the afterlife was the daughter of the Knuckles Tribe Echidnas leader named Pachacamac. Her name was Tikal The Echidna.

Thousands of years ago, their strong and populated tribe spent life in peace and harmony within an Inca-like empire.

Different from any other tribe, Pachacamac's possessed a shrine, and in its pedestal lay a large and precious jewel. This was known as the Master Emerald, the jewel which contains everlasting power, and the ability to control 7 smaller items, known as the Chaos Emeralds.

Pachacamac witnessed and realized just how much energy the Master Emerald contained. And so in a manner of selfishness and greed, him and his men bombarded the shrine to snatch the Master and Chaos Emeralds all together in one swipe. This horrified Tikal. The way she saw it, her father was going insane for wanting to achieve more power. She along with her chao friends persisted in begging him to change his ways and leave the Emeralds in their places.

But unfortunately, things had changed for the worse.

Instead of having compassion for her daughter, Pachacamac knocked Tikal along with the chao infants to the side. They'd entered unconsciousness and missed moments of Chaos annihilating Pachacamac and the village warriors. The immortal creature had been angered by their cruel attempts of robbing the shrine of its legendary Emeralds, so he killed them in the end.

When Tikal woke up, she saw what Chaos had done and decided this couldn't go on any further. She hurried towards the safe Master Emerald and intended to recite an ancient poem telling about Chaos. After ward, she saw what the message in the poem had meant, so she immediately asked the Master Emerald to stop the enraged Chaos from wreaking any more havoc. However, the bright jewel hadn't only took him back inside, but also Tikal were sealed inside.

It lasted like this and never changed. With the few millenniums having drifted by, Tikal had now become a spirit. She realized how much of her duty it'd been for her to stay trapped within the Master Emerald, not holding any regrets.

As of today, the Master Emerald resided on a humongous island called Angel Island. Like earlier echidna's, it was Knuckles's role to keep it protected from outsiders and in its usual pedestal.

Similar to Tikal, Knuckles didn't regret having the title of a guardian at all. The entire experience had molded him into a serious, tough, independent character. He never felt obligated or having a reason to leave the island. He couldn't pinpoint exactly why he had to guard the Master Emerald, but he could hear it; a soft voice calling out to him, delivering this task. And ever since then, Knuckles had stayed determined not to let the Master Emerald out of his presence.

* * *

After seeing Maria being murdered, till this day Shadow had difficulty moving on without that tragic image of death still lingering in his mind; her smile that warmed his heart, and those gentle sapphire orbs she looked at him with had all vanished now.

But he didn't want to believe it anymore.

Nobody had the power to time travel. There had to be some kind of other way for Maria's life to be returned. He couldn't for another moment live without knowing Maria's death weren't purposeful.

And so that left Shadow to venture into a region known as Station Square, where he would search its streets from top to bottom.

The civilians treated Shadow with respect since he'd saved them from the hands of Black Doom. When anyone noticed the darkish hedgehog walk past them or on the opposite side of the road, they only stared and didn't speak a a word to him.

Shadow was quiet and always kept to himself, so there was no point in expecting him to become more talkative.

He continued towards the corner, looking at every building to see if he'd noticed the place he were looking for.

Even with a lone-wolf status, Shadow had managed to attain some information describing a public facility where people could go to receive fateful predictions about their lives. However, that wasn't exactly what Shadow had in mind.

He'd passed the crosswalk and continued walking. So far nothing like he'd hoped for were near. Station Square was a large city, so this place the Ultimate Life Form were looking for could be anywhere; this would have to be taken into full consideration.

It felt the same heading through each street, like each business or apartment were exact.

Shadow wouldn't choose to resort to asking for directions. He'd find his destination soon enough.

Once he located the building, he already prepared an explanation of why he came and what he wanted done.

This endless path of repetitive shops and homes kept on for about 20 minutes, until Shadow reached the street's dead end and noticed a particular building. Its sign had brought him success. It was written "Kamimi's Fortune Telling Shop" in scarlet letters. Only when he motioned to head towards the door, a wolf-weasel around his height were standing in front of it. They appeared to be leaning against the wall with their arms folded and they seemed calm.

"Well look what we have here."

Shadow diverted his eyes away from the sign and towards the person in front of the door. They had deep purple and white fur, mischievous ebony pupils, a cow-boy hat, metal plated gloves, white and tawny boots, and waist belt equipped with a pistol. Their way of smirking at Shadow annoyed him; they couldn't be someone of a normal status.

"Who are you?" Shadow interrogated the weasel.

"The names Nack. Hey, I know who you look like."

Shadow became annoyed at this remark. His appearance wasn't difficult to figure out.

He watched Nack keep his index finger pointed at him while trying to figure out.

"You're related to that Sonic guy."

"Hmph," Shadow crossed his arms in disagreement.

"I look nothing like that faker!"

"Looks like someone's in denial!" Nack made a short laugh while folding his arms.

There wasn't anymore time to waste with this purple buffoon.

Shadow released a sigh and closed his eyes to calm down. Then he unfolded his arms and faced Nack.

"Move out of the way. I need to get inside of that door you're blocking."

"Sure. Be my guest."

Nack took a step to the side and spectated as Shadow approached the closed door. He grabbed the knob and twisted it, but someone had locked the door. So Shadow developed his own way of getting inside and unleashed a blast of bright crimson energy to break the door.

After the opening was destroyed, Shadow let himself in while Nack followed behind him.

'This guy's tough. I wonder if he's able to take out Sonic with that same move,' Nack thought as he stayed behind Shadow.

The both of them walked in to find themselves in a room with dark-blue curtains surrounding it. In the middle of the area was a single table covered by a scarlet tablecloth. Sitting in front of it was a young hedgehog with short rose quills and gentle jade-green pupils. A lavender scarf was wrapped around her head, she wore a clean ivory blouse that revealed her bare shoulders, a sewn violet skirt that reached past her knees, and charcoal boots with shoe laces. Her name was Amy Rose.

This petite hedgehog was reading a book; her mind was too involved in the book's plot to notice she'd gotten two visitors.

Shadow had recognized who she was, but Nack was only getting to see how she looked and became infatuated.

Soon Amy heard the sound of footsteps approaching and set her book down to see a familiar hedgehog.

"Shadow?"

His arrival in the sort of place gave Amy utter surprise. His whereabouts were known to be unknown.

"What are you doing here? ... you came to have you're fortune told?"

"No. There's something that I think you're capable of helping me with."

"Do you think you can help me too, baby?"

Before he knew it, Shadow found Nack in front of Amy with his gloved hand cupping her chin. She dropped her book and winced in disgust by the wolf-weasel's behavior.

Shadow knew that someone like Amy didn't deserve a piece of filth like Nack. She looked in utter discomfort with his face right in front of hers.

Nack felt a hand snatch his away from the fortune teller's chin then drop it. He looked to find a pair of blood-colored eyes glaring at him.

"Don't you dare touch her again. The next time you do, I'll give you a reason to really visit a fortune teller."

Nack placed a faint smirk on his face. Shadow's threat seemed to entertain him, but he were happening to take the ultimate Life Form's strength for granted; he could increase his power higher than the energy he'd used to bust the front door down.

Their stare lasted for about 10 seconds, then Shadow drew his pupils away and returned them to Amy. She straightened herself to sit properly in her chair then faced both Shadow and Nack to speak.

"OK, so let me get this straight... BOTH of you need something, but its not to get your fortune read?"

"I'm not sure what this idiot came here for," affirmed Shadow.

"But I'm here to ask if you can help me with a resurrection."

"A resurrection?"

Amy became perplexed and needed more clarification. To her, this favor meant asking for a lot.

"For who?"

"Maria..."

It made sense, but not to be expected. From what Amy had learned, Maria's death took place about 50 years ago. She was remembered by those who mourned and moved on with their lives. Had Shadow been the only one still trapped in the past?

"Shadow... I don't know if I can do that. I'm still at the stage of being a a tarot card reader. My teacher Kamimi knows about that stuff, but she's still on vacation."

"Did you forget that I'm still here?" interjected Nack.

Shadow remained silent since he didn't know or care who this sniper was.

"Oh, sorry..." responded Amy in a uneasy voice.

"What did you come for?"

"Ta' get someone outta' the Master Emerald."

"...what...?"

Neither Amy or Shadow knew what Nack was talking about. The Master Emerald had never been witnessed of carrying a body inside of it. It was only known to be used for its awesome powers, and guarded always by Knuckles.

The minute he received confused faces from them, Nack understood he were thought to be a lunatic.

"I get it... you two think I'm makin' this all up."

"Well, since when would the Master Emerald being carrying a person inside of it?" Amy asked.

"I'm tellin' ya! When I walked up to it, a orange girl appeared and started talkin' ta' me. I didn't believe it at first either."

"Well what did she tell you?"

At this point Nack became nervous. He knew how Amy would react once she heard the recited phrase.

"Well, she..."

Nack began to rub his head in a sheepish fashion while shifting his eyes to the carpet floor.

It was simple for Shadow to detect the gunman's emotions. He became curious about this story Nack gave but knew it'd be best to avoid.

"She told you to leave, didn't she?"

Nack faced Shadow to prepare a response for this, but he'd been proved wrong. Those were the actual words Tikal had given him.

Now the mission Nack had prepared was at the edge of becoming a failure. He couldn't think of any other way to fix this issue expect see a person who dealt with the supernatural, but most likely Amy would decline; it was all the Sonic replica's fault.

"N-no! Nobody asked for your input anyway! Shut up and let me talk ta' the girl," Nack snapped at Shadow.

Amy became confused. She couldn't comprehend how Nack expected her to bring something from outside of the Master Emerald.

"Now..." Nack returned his gaze to Amy's.

"...will ya' be able ta' help me or not?"

Shadow remembered about Nack's gun sitting at his waist. If the furred culprit didn't meet his desires, than he'd be more than willing to shoot Amy. The ebony hedgehog had to acknowledge this and be ready to save Amy in case Nack chose to utilize it.

Nack's onyx eyes never left her emerald ones. They looked filled with frustration and impatience.

Amy could feel her shoulders quavering, her mind begging for peace. This type of demanding was too much for her to deal with.

Then an idea sprung into her mind.

"You know what? I think I have just the thing for you!"

With a now cheerful expression, Amy rose from her chair and scurried into the backroom. It astonished both Nack and Shadow to see her mood change instantly.

"Heh. Now that's more like it," Nack placed his arms behind his head and smiled with relief.

While waiting for the pink babe to return, Nack took a look over at Shadow. He could sum up that he were quite a blunt person; a character who he should be cautious around and avoid confrontations with.

Shadow noticed the gaze and frowned at him. Being stared at was something he disliked, especially from someone who just told him to silence himself.

Few minutes passed, and Amy returned with a brown pouch tied by a ribbon.

"Here you go," the preteen handed it to Nack.

He studied it while it lay in his palm; he could guess it were a powder substance.

"What's this stuff?"

"It's Spirit Powder. You sprinkle it over the person's belongings, pray that they come back alive, then viola! They come back in the same flesh."

After given this explanation, Nack paid more attention to the sack, and came to a decision. If this powder was what he needed, then he wouldn't hesitate; he'd have to pour the powder on top of the Master Emerald itself. But something about this remained odd.

"Wait! But she's not dead."

"Ohh, well it can still work. Just make sure you ask specifically for her to be freed."

"Well alright then. Maybe after this all over we can go out sometime," Nack winked teasingly at Amy then turned around to leave.

It wasn't until he left the building that Amy released her bottled feelings and made a loud grunt.

"Ugggghhhhh! The nerve of that guy! I wish Sonic were down here to straighten him out."

Amy let out a breath of sheer relief before continuing her words.

"But that's not to say I'm not glad you did it for me. Thanks, Shadow."

The young fortune teller returned to her chair while giving Shadow a sweet smile.

Amy had been the only person to not be disliked or annoying towards Shadow; that was part of how their relations towards each other worked.

Again, Shadow knew very well not to let Amy be harassed, because she was innocent and pure of heart. Something like that reminded him of Maria, which was why it shouldn't be tampered with in the slightest.

"Does that fool know that powder can't fulfill his request?" Shadow asked Amy.

"No, but he was dumb enough to believe it. The real way is something I still haven't mastered yet."

"That's not to say you can't revive Maria, now is it?"

Amy had let that last remark slip from her mouth and unraveled a new thought for Shadow to ponder on. She explained to him why she couldn't perform resurrection, but their conversation was still interrupted by that purple jerk.

".. Shadow... I already told you that I couldn't..."

She couldn't bare to face Shadow while talking now. How upset he would be after being turned down on his offer couldn't be imagined, as it would be beyond Amy's guessing it.

As his friend, she felt worse, even more shame and disappointment in herself than to any regular customer.

He sensed the trouble in her voice. Shadow didn't become angry, but he kept his faith.

"Amy. Look at me."

In a prompt manner, Amy returned her face to view his and still looked bitter. She would gladly help Shadow if able. But what he were asking for required her of powers which she hadn't excelled at but only practiced a few times.

"You've tricked somebody by handing them a mere sack of powder, but I believe you're actually capable of doing what I've asked. Prepare whatever needs preparation," Shadow insisted, turning around to leave for the door.

"I'll be waiting for you outside of this city on the south end."

"Wait, Shadow!"

By the time these words escaped Amy's lips, Shadow had sped towards the outside with his hover skates and failed to hear.

Just how could Shadow declare she were ready to bring some back from the dead?


	2. Chapter 2

And so Amy gathered the materials she'd need for the revival; a dark cloak to wear for the activity, and a special container filled with powder. This wasn't a regular substance, but a mystical item that went by the name of Reina's Powder. Kamimi explained to Amy that this powder were created specifically for reviving someone from the dead.

While she'd been outside, the skies were colored a slate gray and heavy winds pushed against her cloak and quills, not to mention the millions of bladed grasses on the earth.

In the back of her mind, Amy was nervous, but Shadow forced it into her that her plan would work.

If Kamimi were present, she'd definitely order Amy not to fulfill Shadow's request because her powers weren't strong enough to handle something like Reina's Powder. But Amy was known to be stubborn and loyal to her friends. Could anyone really blame her for wanting to help Shadow regain a close friend of his?

Like the crimson hedgehog had stated, Amy approached the outskirts of Station Square on the south end, the strings to her cloak tied around her neck and powder in her gloved grip.

The rose hedgehog had an idea that in order to perform the resurrection, she needed to pour her chosen powder onto the ground but draw a circular shape with it. Shadow was required to take part in it.

For these types of ceremonies, a lot of energy was needed; Amy didn't have the stamina to do it alone.

And if that weren't enough, a personal item was what made the entire ritual whole. Without anything so much as a piece of the deceased individual's lint, then attempting to restore their life was futile.

Hopefully Shadow remembered this because Amy had forgotten to tell him. Or maybe they didn't need any of Maria's belongings. Sure, more willpower and concentration would be necessary. This was what made Shadow's idea of bringing Maria Robotnik back to life all the more difficult.

If it didn't go like she planned, then Amy couldn't imagine either how disappointed or upset he would get with her.

If Kamimi were here, then Shadow's wish could be made.

"There you are."

Before Amy realized, Shadow appeared before her with a calm expression on his face.

The weather blew his dark quills side ward, but of course the hedgehog didn't let it phase him.

"Are you ready to perform the ritual?"

".. yes," Amy responded, trying to hide her fear.

Luckily, there had been enough of Reina's Powder to form a circle.

After being prompted to do so, Shadow joined Amy and sat in front of her inside the created shape, sitting with his legs crossed and hands laying on each one. Amy straightened herself into the same position, then motioned to closing her eyes; this was her idea of relaxing to better focus on finding the power inside her to begin the resurrection.

Shadow noticed this action so he also shut his eyelids. He remained silent after ward. It was time for Amy to start by muttering a spell.

"I call upon the legendary Spirit of Reina! Sua ajuda é muito apreciada... Return our loved one to the face of this earth, whether she be in heaven or the fiery pits down below! De coração puro e de grande carácter... Release her from the the invisible bondage! Tudo é possível com bastante amor e confiança no meio de tudo isso!"

After Amy spoke these words, the powder surrounding them began to glow, creating a ring of light around Shadow and her. Shadow kept Amy's speech in mind and focused deeper on Maria. He yearned to assure her that everything would be alright, and that she would be returning to life soon.

While Amy continued muttering, Shadow used this time to unlock his Chaos energy which formed a auburn aura around his body.

Meanwhile, sounds of thunder rolled through the skies while high winds still resided in swaying everything.

"Resucing o que você mais ama vale a pena! Amor e amizade sempre se entrelaçam! Lembro-me que como a palma da minha mão!"

Soon the powder glowed brighter.

Now was the time for Amy to grab that batch energy needed for this event. She clasped her hands together and leaned downward from the difficulty of staying focused.

In truth, this scared her, leaving her unsure of whether or not she'd be able to finish. It was thanks to Shadow she remained conscious, or she would have fainted after placing every last bit of power into this one ritual.

Amy no longer needed to recite any spells, but only to plant as much energy as possible into their powdered circle. The reason for this was because it acted as a catching net; meaning because of the size in its combined power, it was sure to draw in Maria's soul and capture her.

Things remained the same for the next few minutes.

Shadow stayed silent and concentrated on pouring out his energy. Amy did the same but had trouble on putting in the same amount. Hers was being added at a slower and tinier rate. This was why she explained to Shadow that she hadn't yet mastered performing resurrections; because searching for her full power was still a weak point.

Eventually the glow became vibrant and bright to a point where both Shadow and Amy had to place hands over their eyes. It became harder for Amy to focus her energy when a blinding light was distracting her.

Out of nowhere, Amy grew a migrating headache and yelped in pain. Her voice echoed, and so immediately the light vanished. That spell Shadow and her worked so hard to complete was gone in an instant.

When Amy rose weakly from the ground and opened her eyes, she found Shadow also standing but in front of her. This was exactly what the rose-colored hedgehog didn't want to see.

He was sure to be upset, but Shadow kept on a emotionless facial expression. The Ultimate Life Form held more faith than he expected in Amy, and what did that lead up to? Her not succeeding anyway?

This had to all be some sort of joke. If Shadow knew Amy weren't capable of reviving Maria, then he never would have looked for her in the first place. Now the hedgehog found himself battling with that issue in his mind.

Either way, Amy had failed, and now Shadow wasn't sure what to do.

So far, getting Amy's assistance was all he could think of. But if her reviving spell didn't work, then what else was there?

"Hm," Shadow folded his arms and closed his eyes as a smallish frown formed across his lips.

Still holding onto her head gingerly, Amy reacted at the sound of this and wondered what her darkish friend could be thinking about.

He didn't have to say anything because she felt the guilt enter her body. She'd tried the best she could.

Amy was also stumped as to why the spell didn't prosper like she predicted. It had started off so well at the beginning.

Suddenly, she noticed Shadow turn his back on her and start to walk away; so this was all he had to say about the situation.

Amy was afraid to learn how he'd respond, but she couldn't bare to just see him leave like this. There had to be something else for them to try.

"Shadow!"

He merely ceased his footsteps and stood frozen. Right now he couldn't look at the rose.

She called his name, and now Amy couldn't think of anything to say. Her arm was extended in a reaching manner, in hopes of pleading for Shadow's forgiveness. The pain from her head didn't fade away, but Amy did her best to ignore it.

Shadow waited in a patient manner for Amy to make her response. However, no soft voice came.

With his back still facing her, the crimson-striped hedgehog didn't notice Amy's eyelids drooping or her body quavering. It wasn't until he heard the sound of a collapse did Shadow quickly turn around and discover Amy face first on the ground.

* * *

Now Amy was in for it.

When Kamimi returned, she would notice some of her Reina's Powder had been used by someone. That powder was kept in her shop only for her to use. Because she wasn't present, that didn't give Amy the right to tamper with it.

Shadow was probably far away, with an intention of not talking to Amy anymore. She understood how much he wanted his friend to come back. Anyone else would feel the same way about their pal.

When Amy called his name, she almost felt betrayed to not have been answered when she could herself growing dizzy and fall to the ground. Like she thought about before, this attempted spell of hers was a type which she wasn't prepared for. Amy made the mistake by letting Shadow's faith in her say that everything would work out. But it was easy to place faith into anything; that didn't improve its chances of succession.

Maybe Shadow didn't have that much faith at all... maybe he just wanted to believe that Amy could be the hero because she dealt with magic. Where else to go but a fortune teller when you wanted to revive someone?

Amy was unaware of her location. She still wore her same set of fortune telling clothes.

Someone had rescued her from outside and set her under warm comfortable bedsheets. Their name was Icarus The Butterfly, guardian and friend of Kamimi. He spoke with a fine Irish accent.

Being an insect and 2 years older than Amy, Icarus's height was exact to Shadow's, he carried ivory skin, pointy eyes with violet pupils, bug antennas with black tips, emerald gloves and sneakers with jet-black cuffs, an azure scarf wrapped around his neck, and large black wings on his back.

For the time being, Icarus chose not to transform into this anthropomorphic body. Instead, he remained as an actual butterfly with his same physical features.

Icarus had watched over the sleeping Amy for the past few days. Sometimes the butterfly could recall noticing her toss and turn in her sleep.

As of today she didn't move so much.

Morning arrived, and since Amy's resting spot was beside a window, its sunlight peeked the glass windows and curtains to hit her face. It caused her to moan in dissatisfaction and turn to her other side.

It was about time for her to wake up, but the resurrection spell from yesterday left her extremely fatigued; lazy at that.

Icarus didn't want to deal with this anymore; being asleep for more than one day was enough, but once that changed into two, he grew impatient.

So he fluttered towards Amy and in a graceful manner perched himself onto her button nose.

Being this close to the rosy rascal's face made him smile.

Without having to touch it, Icarus could see that Amy had soft fur. He felt its hue fitted with her sweet personality. Then came her eyes.

The 14-year old couldn't see them now, but Icarus always remembered how much life and shine lay inside of those emerald-like pupils.

Sitting on her nose ended as a success when Icarus noticed her scrunch it then open her eyes to see what'd been irritating her face.

"Huh... Icarus?... Icarus! What are you doing?" Amy yelled, shaking her face in hopes of Icarus to move.

"About time you woke up," Icarus replied, flying away from his friend's face and towards the floor.

So she was in Icarus's home, in his own bed.

Amy quickly covered her nose for safety then saw Icarus in his humanoid body walking from the midst of a puff of gray smoke; this was how his transformation sequenced. Sometimes she wondered how he was born with that ability. Kamimi told her that Icarus was born from a family of wizards who already carried that ability.

When Icarus walked up to her, Amy frowned at him and crossed her arms.

"Good morning, Miss Rose," Icarus greeted with a warm smile.

"I told you not to call me that."

"What's the harm? It's more proper when I say it that way," Icarus smirked. "Does that blue boy of yours get upset about it?"

"Blue boy" was how Icarus referred to Sonic. The butterfly never formed a friendship or even simple acquaintanceship with the hedgehog because he didn't like his style of being carefree and habit of rushing into risky situations with a cocky attitude.

In fact, Icarus could imagine himself with Amy more than she could picture herself with Sonic.

"Yes, he does!" Amy answered in a blunt tone, getting up from the bed to straighten its blankets. "Now while I do this, why don't you do something normal for a change like tell me why I'm here."

"Isn't it obvious?" Icarus retorted, helping Amy by lifting the beds pillows. "You passed out after tryin' ta' use that Reina's Powder. Kamimi sent me to look for ya'. And I didn't see you at the shop, so I decided ta' track you down by searchin' for your energy."

Amy was finished with fixing the bed, so she then sat on its edge will Icarus motioned to standing in front of her.

"When I found ya', you were lyin' unconscious."

So that was how her chance to assist Shadow ended up. It made sense, for Amy still felt pretty worn out.

'That's right,' Amy bent her head down in self-disappointment. 'I used up every last bit of my energy, and still I couldn't help bring Maria back... Shadow...'

A picture of that same emotionless face imaged in her mind, haunting and reminding Amy of her tragic fall. She couldn't think of a time where Shadow ever looked at her that way.

Before, she always found a way to keep peace between them without ever having to try. It'd been her gentle and friendly nature that told Shadow she wasn't dangerous.

Icarus noticed Amy in a strange trance and decided to snap her out of it.

"So now Kamimi wants me ta' watch after you until she comes back from the Green Hill Region."

"Green Hill? Why is she all the way over there?"

"Here. Maybe this will explain everything for ya'."

Amy noticed Icarus hand her a letter written in dark blue ink and cursive.

_Dear Amy, _

_You should know that I'll be gone for much longer than I expected. My grandmother has developed pneumonia, along with my cousins and uncles. It was in my interest to stay and help them recover. I've sent Icarus to help you watch over the shop. May everything for you two go well. Also, before I finish this letter, remember not to touch the powder that I let on the upper right shelf? You know the one with the black top?_

Everything seemed to crumble all at once in Amy's life. She found it to be cruel destiny that Kamimi mentioned Reina's Powder". Now Amy would have to formulate an excuse and hope that so much as a vein didn't pop out of Kamimi's skin when she learned the truth.

The hedgehog laid the letter beside her then leaped down from the mattress.

Icarus caught sign of despair even when Amy looked downward again. He frowned in concern.

"So... what do ya' think?" the butterfly asked in a low tone.

Finally Amy lifted her head, looking at Icarus with more seriousness in her adolescent face.

"I need something to get away from all of this. Maybe for just a few weeks..."

Icarus wasn't sure if he heard Amy clearly enough. This was Amy's job she desired to take a break from. Neither of them were sure if Kamimi would agree with that.

He kept his gaze on her and waited for clarification.

"Icarus, you've visited a lot of places. Where do you think I should go?"

Kamimi's guardian didn't see this coming. He felt unsure about Amy truly deciding to leave. Doing that would mean disobeying Kamimi, and then how would that help Amy in the end?

But Icarus couldn't deny Amy's depressive state. It looked so genuine. The rose was serious about leaving; especially if it meant clearing her thoughts and calming down from her drama.

Icarus's didn't open his mouth to speak yet. The room kept its silence while he held onto his hesitation. Surely Amy was thinking too much about this.

"Amy... I think you're makin' a huge mistake."

Amy quickly shot up her head as she felt this moment had to be acknowledged. Finally he'd called her by her real name and not his weird nickname.

When she looked into the butterfly's eyes he seemed calm. And that was how Icarus wanted this conversation to stay.

Still, Amy didn't understand why he was cautious about her given idea. She kept her curiosity to herself.

"Whoever said runnin' from your problems would solve anything?" Icarus continued.

Running away? This was never of her in her intentions to do. Amy had to backtrack and realize what'd just been said to her. Icarus was moving far away from the main point of her argument.

Amy grew irritated and shook her head in total disagreement.

"I'm not running away from my problems! I just need some time to figure out how to fix them. If I stay here it'll just remind me of how much disappointment I've brought."

"Disappointment?" Icarus raised his eye in puzzlement.

"Yes, disappointment. I'm sure you know what that word means."

She couldn't take anymore of residing in this town or hearing Icarus try to persuade her to change her mind. There had to be a change, and if leaving for a vacation had to be that, then Amy was all for it.

So the hedgehog hurried past Icarus and into his living room for the front door. He turned around and chose to start after her down the sidewalk.

The minute she stepped foot outside, the morning's sunlight shined on her face and gave warmth.

"I'm not sure if you really brought disappointment at all."

Icarus had more to say as Amy twisted the door knob and walked out. She seemed to not care if the butterfly was following her. If Amy kept walking, maybe he'd give up and leave.

"When you stole her Reina's Powder what did ya' use it for?"

"For a resurrection," Amy answered in a blunt tone.

Hearing this response was enough to make Icarus stop in his tracks beside a pet store and stand still with an agape mouth. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. It was no wonder Amy felt so depressed; she'd went out of her way to perform a spell that she hadn't even mastered yet.

Moments later, Icarus caught up with to the hedgehog and parted his lips to speak.

"Well that explains a lot!" the butterfly spoke with sarcasm. "Why'd ya' go and try that when you're not even ready?"

"I was trying to help a friend of mine bring their friend back from the dead."

"What friend?"

One issue with Icarus was his sense of insecurity. Amy knew this and decided to shorten their talk.

"Just someone that you don't know."

By now, Amy had reached a street corner and waited for its light to alter from green to bright red, Icarus waiting beside her. Different types of cars passed by, and many at that. It would be long before the signal ever changed.

One way or another, Icarus would find out about this "friend" of Amy's. He was introduced to all of her friends, so why was this single person hidden from the bunch?

"Someone I don't know, huh?" Icarus placed a hand to his chin while in deep thought. "Someone I don't know..."

"Yes. Someone you've never met before."

Amy was becoming tired of her friend reciting that same phrase. This entire topic was getting too out of hand. If it wasn't about staying, then it just had to result with Icarus not being introduced to Shadow.

Still waiting for the signal to cross the street, Icarus next moved his gloved hand from his face then placed his sights on Amy. She didn't know why all of a sudden the butterfly was grinning.

"Ya' know... Kamimi only sent that letter out about two days ago. Which is perfect reason for me to respond and send one back ta' her soon."

Icarus knew good and well how much further trouble Amy would get into if Kamimi learned of her pupil's mistakes while dealing with her sick family members; yet he placed this over Amy's head like a rabbit entranced by a carrot hanging on a thread.

"You wouldn't...!"

Both of their eyes met with each other, Icarus appearing confident while Amy were dismayed at his motives. This scene lasted for about 3 seconds until Amy noticed the light change to scarlet. She headed for the crosswalk without informing Icarus, so he simply followed after catching her movement.

Passing through the crosswalk, Amy kept her eyes forward. Even so, Icarus kept his same face, hoping she would give in.

When they exited onto the next sidewalk and passed about 5 blocks, Amy couldn't deal with anymore of Icarus's staring so she looked at him once more and spoke in a dry voice.

"I don't even know where he is, alright? He doesn't have a place to call home."

Amy heaved out a sigh after speaking. Hopefully this would be the end of it and Icarus would move away from her.

But instead, this only helped the butterfly's plan develop further.

"That's not a problem. You can borrow my telepathy and ask him to come to our vacation spot."

"OUR vacation spot?"

Veins popped out of Amy's head while she clenched her fists. Just who did this winged idiot think he was?

Icarus rubbed his head sheepishly while laughing over the matter.

"Hehe. Well, I am goin' with ya'. I was the one you asked ta' think of place, so that gives me the right ta' come too."

"That doesn't give you a reason to come with me. You're just making that up!"

"Oh? Then maybe when I start the letter for Kamimi I can tell her ya' went away for a few weeks."

Nothing Amy said seemed to push her mentor's guardian away. It was all because of that letter; it didn't matter if Kamimi felt concerned about having to send one. Now Icarus had a form of blackmail and was benefiting from it.

Being stubborn, Amy didn't want to find herself obeying Icarus, but avoiding Kamimi to learn of the powder incident so early wasn't something else she wanted.

So she found herself submitting to his declaration.

"Fine, whatever. But under two conditions." Amy used her each of her fingers while explaining each rule. "One. My friends get to come with me. And two, whenever I want to be alone with Sonic, you have to find something else to do."

"Sure, whatever Miss Rose wants, Miss Rose gets."

Icarus did his best to sound definite and sincere, but that last condition of Amy's he wasn't so comfortable with. He wouldn't for one second take his eyes off of them.

"Good," Amy smiled with relief as they passed a hot dog shop. "So, where should we go?

"How does Chao Island sound?"

"Chao... Island? That actually exists?"

The reason Amy was in disbelief about this was because Chao Island was known only to be a myth, like chao were. Of course Chao still existed, like Cheese and Chacola, but others weren't discovered. Only those two remained after being rescued and cared for by Cream and Big.

To hear the region were true boggled Amy's mind. Her friends would be amazed to hear about its existence.

"Yep. What, ya' thought it were only a myth?" asked Icarus as they walked towards another street corner.

"A lot of people did. Even Tails has never found any clues, and he's a really smart guy with his researching and history."

"Well, it actually exists. But how we get there isn't that simple, unless Tails already has a way for us ta' get there."

"Of course he does!" affirmed Amy. "Tails is always tinkering with things. You mean like does he have a plane big enough for all of us?"

"Yeah. And not only that, but since the island is located in the middle of the ocean."

Amy and Icarus reached the corner of the block but turned right ward to continue for their destination.

Seconds later, they reached the spot in front the path leading to Amy's apartment.

Before she walked in, Icarus and her stood face to face to finish their discussion.

"It lies southeast of this city. Once we all get together, I can give Tails the rest of the details."

"Well I'm just going to run in here and gather stuff that I plan on taking."

And with that, Amy began for the front door, motioning to pull out her silver apartment key.

Icarus found himself parting his lips to say something that he thought were true; smiling at the same time.

"Hey."

Amy stopped turning the key in the knob and turned around to see what the butterfly wanted.

"Ya' notice how you're not upset with me anymore?"

"Be quiet, Icarus," Amy retorted, returning to opening the front door then heading in.

Why Icarus thought he had to point that out Amy didn't know, but it somewhat annoyed her. He always tried his hardest to tease her, and she knew just the reason behind it.

For someone's guardian, Icarus were still immature and overly insecure; especially over her. But Amy started to feel freed from those emotional bondages.

Once they went to this Chao Island, she would be too busy hanging out with her friends for Icarus to bother her.

The entire time Amy had turned around and headed inside the apartment building, Icarus smiled. He always seemed to predict her behavior and held onto the good things about her. He loved their love-hate relationship; the sole reason why this vacation wouldn't change any of that. Icarus would make sure it didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Days before Amy declared her vacation, Sonic relaxed on the sofa in Tails's living room because it was nine o' clock and he decided to get a good night's rest.

With the entire room being silent, Sonic found himself waking up grumpily to walk towards the window west of the room and shut it; the night's cold air was seeping through its slit, chilling his furred body.

So once he closed the glass opening and recovered it with its curtains, a shade of orange appeared from out of nowhere and glowed on the wall underneath it. This was definitely odd. Sonic had made sure to flick all of the house lights off before going to sleep. Maybe Egghead decided to send a flashing robot and launch an invasion.

A genuine smirk formed on Sonic's lips. He turned around with the intention of annihilating which ever goon his evil nemesis sent, but instead grew astonished and lowered his guard. What floated before the azure hero wasn't a robot, but a luminary sphere. Where did it come from and why did it decide to approach him?

Because it wasn't anthropomorphic, Sonic wasn't sure if he could speak to this mysterious light.

"Chao Island is in terrible danger!"

Sonic's mouth became agape when he heard a gentle, female voice emit from within the light; he didn't feel clear about what it was addressing.

"Chao Island...? But Tails said that place was only a myth."

As if the light didn't hear Sonic's response at all, it continued onward to giving the hedgehog more words.

"The chao need your help. Right now, they are in a tragic state. Please... find a way to reach them. Take with you thirty bottles of medicine and some construction tools."

Even with the light's pleading tone, Sonic was left in complete wonder. He didn't understand why such a large amount of medicine was needed. That could only mean there were a lot of sick people on this so called Chao Island. But what exactly were the tools needed for? None of it made sense.

Sonic would need some more answers including another explanation before obeying this glowing object.

"But I don't understand. Wait! Tell me more about that island!" Sonic insisted as the light's brightness started to diminish like a candle's fiery ember being blown out.

Now with the room back to normal, it became difficult for Sonic to return to sleep as numerous questions about this strange occurrence towered inside of his mind. He couldn't imagine how he would explain any of it to his fox buddy. What if he didn't believe and just made the assumption that it were all a mere dream? Come to think of it, how would any of Sonic's friends respond?

* * *

Around the same hour, the orange sphere visited the flying ship of the Babylon Rogues, heading specifically for Wave the Swallow.

She had also been resting in her twin-sized bed under a crimson comforter. And so, after getting Wave to wake up, the light had shared the same news about Chao Island, with the exception of the medicine. Instead, Wave was requested to bring tools of her own and Extreme Gear. For what reason she didn't know. The light acted deaf towards Wave and vanished, leaving the rogue with a tiny frown.

When Wave returned to her peaceful sleep, she found herself in a dream where she was lying on grass, located on Chao Island itself. The swallow wasn't ready to assume it existed. She instead went along with the dream.

The island's trees looked so fresh and healthy with their green palm leaves. Batches of huge golden fruit dangled on each one. A waterfall from atop the rocky landscape traveled downward into a large pond that split into five different rivers, and the skies were clear blue with soft looking clouds.

All in all, the region looked prosperous enough to say it carried great vegetation.

From out of nowhere, Wave found about four baby chao taking small steps towards her. Their bodies were all colored in a shade of cyan while their heads, hands, and feet all contained yellow tips.

Together, they uttered the same cheerful infant noises. Wave rose from the ground and sat on her knees in order to level herself with them.

Even as they didn't know her, each of the chao's faces lit up with friendly smiles. They continued speaking to Wave in their usual language. She couldn't deny the fact that these smallish creatures were adorable. They were naive to just how cruel the world outside of their island could really be. Rather, they spent their entire lives in this haven, together in harmonious peace and tranquility.

A tiny smile found its way onto Wave's beak.

The mechanic had researched chao, but this was her first time ever to see one in the flesh.

One chao from the group gathered enough confidence to flutter towards the anthropomorphous girl's face with its scarlet wings. They hovered at least one foot in front of her. It smiled for a second time, assuring Wave that it was excited to meet her. She couldn't help but grin back at the baby chao. These beings were precious and unique indeed.

Delightful moments passed until an unexpected wind picked up.

Wave got up from the ground in curiosity of this as the new airslapped her two feathered strands of hair towards the left. Each of the chao also looked up with the same emotions. Like everyone didn't figure, the once cerulean skies and white clouds changed into shades of gray; the sky's tint was darker.

The only time this commenced was if a darkish force were arriving. Either way, Wave prepared herself for combat.

Without any interference, all of the chao started coughing. The infant that hovered in front of Wave's face collapsed to the ground; not even a cough came from its mouth.

Soon the other chao did the same thing. When Wave studied their faces, she could see they were very pale. But how did they grow ill all of a sudden? And what was up with the sky?

Quickly, Wave knelt back down to pick up the unconscious chao who had hovered towards her. She stared at its eyes, hoping they would open. None of the chao deserved this unknown crisis.

Being only one person, Wave wasn't sure if she could handle helping all four of these chao reach recovery. The swallow moved her eyes from the other chao babies to the one in her arms. None of this made any sense.

The once well-grown trees with fruit transformed into withered and leafless plants. Next, the grass planted in the earth lost its color and began to die. Then, the once flowing waters streamed no more because giant boulders appeared from out of thin air and were placed in its way.

Wave gasped at each of these sudden occurrences. When they all combined, each of these problems was out of her control to fix. Surely someone were in the area to give her some assistance.

"Hello? Anyone out there?" Right after Wave hollered these words, sounds of cracking were heard. She looked at the ground to see large splits forming and encircling the chao. Wave gathered enough determination to reach for all of the chao lying on the grass while different cracks still appeared. Now the female bird struggled carrying four creatures and not just one. "Please! If anyone is out there, then can you-"

Before Wave could present her pleading request, the troubled girl didn't give attention to her path and therefore tripped over a jutting crack in the ground. The chao flew from out of her hands and landed on the ground with small thuds, Wave landing face-first. Wave hurried to getting up and checking if the blue infants were in a worse condition. They stayed motionless, causing Wave to gasp in sheer devestation. Could they have all died from the mysterious sickness already? This couldn't be real.

The hint of hope that laid inside of Wave's heart said the chao would wake up soon.

Before she realized it, gray cocoons formed and had enveloped each chao in a individual manner. The mechanic could recall learning about this from her same research. When cocoons with yellow tips encased chao, it meant they were going through a transformation. Pink cocoons symbolized maturity. As for the current hue, death was represented. Wave knew this to be one-hundred percent correct, yet, the saddened swallow didn't want to admit it.

With stubborn thinking, the bird rushed towards the chao to free them from their cocoons, but their walls became solid, causing her fingers to make contact with it by the time she outstretched her hand; it was too late.

In the last parts of her dream, Wave could remember having to wipe a single tear from her face.

* * *

The next morning, when she'd woken up, the orb of light and nightmare both lingered in her mind.

After giving them some thought, the swallow learned why she had that dream in the first place.

"What?" Jet responded in puzzlement, after Wave had repeated the light's request.

The fourteen-year old hawk sat behind his desk in his leather chair while being spoken to. Wave was aware of her words sounding utterly bizarre, but she had let that dream get the best of her.

"Jet, think about what I've just said for a minute before saying I'm going insane."

"You ARE going insane! Why would a light ask that you go somewhere that doesn't even exist?"

"Have I ever asked you to believe me on anything? Just this once can you do that for me?"

It astonished Jet to see his friend with this new form of emotion; her eyes were glazed and filled with grief. She was serious about visiting this invisible place.

"Wave..." Jet began with a low voice. "So you're really serious about this?" Wave nodded her head in agreement without saying a word. Then a grin appeared on Jet's face when he came to a particular realization. "After hanging out with Tails for so long, you're starting to grow soft like him."

"Huh?"

A streak of red formed above Wave's beak. She wasn't known to be a person who expressed her feelings openly; rather, she kept to herself, regardless of her alliance with Storm and Jet.

"No, I'm not!" Wave barked with her face still blushed, "Don't ever compare me to that kid," the swallow crossed her arms while frowning. Whether she believed it or not, Wave was becoming concerned for Chao Island.

All of a sudden, the door leading to Jet's office opened, and in came Storm the Albatross. Wave turned around to discover this while Jet laid his arms on his desk.

"Hey, you guys! I found a place that has lots of treasure for us to steal." The room stayed silent. This befuddled Storm because Jet had assigned him to locate an area filled with treasure for them to plunder, but now the Babylon Rogue leader didn't seem interested; and neither did Wave. "Uhh... what's with nobody talkin'?" Storm asked his comrades.

Wave wasn't sure if she could explain the situation so Jet happened to speak. "We don't have time for that because we're all going on a little vacation."

"A vacation?" After Wave heard Storm give this response, she looked back at Jet with a surprised reaction. In the end, he'd decided to believe and take her words for truth. A smirked formed on his beak when Jet noticed Wave's stare. "A vacation to where, boss?"

"To Chao Island."

Storm's jaw dropped in utter bewilderment and his eyes widened. What his boss was saying couldn't be true.

Wave couldn't help but wonder about what made Jet choose to accept her request so suddenly.

"... b-but that place isn't real! How can we go to a island that's not really there?" Storm questioned.

"It does exist. A friend of mine told me so," Jet answered in a cool voice.

Because of this specific reply, Wave felt herself be exposed as she was mentioned; Storm was too feeble-minded to figure that out.

The gray albatross placed a hand to his chin and thought about what Jet said. This would be their first time ever going on a vacation. Usually, the trio made jewel heists.

Still, taking a relaxing break didn't sound harmful.

"So, Wave... when do you think is the best time to leave?" Jet asked the older bird.

"As soon as possible."

And with that, Storm looked at each friend confusedly, for he didn't expect vacationing to arrive so soon. Something about this "Chao Island" rubbed him the wrong way; he needed further clarification.

Both Wave and Jet started to walk away.

"W-wait you guys! Can we talk about this?" Either way, Storm's friends left the room. The fact that they didn't give him an explanation made the large bird become interested in learning their motives.

With a few moments of thinking, Storm walked towards the door to head for his room.

* * *

Amy had gathered her suitcase filled with clothes, including enough camping equipment for her and her friends. Amy contacted her chosen guests and was able to hear that they would accompany her. It consisted of Sonic, Tails, Cream and Cheese, Big and Froggy, Rouge, and Knuckles. Amy wasn't sure if Shadow would want to come, but Icarus managed to blackmail her in such a way that his presence was urgent. She was certain that the Ultimate Life Form was still upset about the failed resurrection of his best friend.

Because of how many people were going on this trip, Tails chose to use his giant red spaceship; the same vehicle he used to collect the Chaos Emeralds before Black Doom got ahold of them.

Thanks to the help of Icarus, Tails determined that getting to Chao Island would take about six hours. The fox genius didn't understand why Sonic insisted that they take thirty bottles of medicine and houseware tools with them. Although, Icarus did explain the truth of Chao Island to everyone.

Tails's spaceship was set up with a door leading to a huge room in his back area where everyone was informed they could place their bags. The walls were scarlet like the exterior of the ship while glass windows were positioned along the wall opposite of the door. The floor was materialized from metallic blue.

Everyone had finally gathered inside of the spaceship. Tails sat in the driver's seat to start the engine while his friends stood behind him in different spots.

"Cheese, are you excied about our trip?" asked Cream, holding the sweet creature in her arms.

"Chao chao!" Cheese answered with glee.

Big happened to notice this and felt obliged to enter the conversation. "Me and Froggy never thought that Chao Island was real!"

Once Cream placed her sight on Big and Froggy who was in his arms, their chat furthered. Sonic happened to discover something different about this scene. It wasn't filled with as many voices. "Hey Cream," the cerulean hedgehog walked up to the 6-year old rabbit. "Did you or Big see Amy leave this room?"

Something did in fact feel different. Big and Cream prompted with looking around the area for their rose-colored friend, but there lay no sign of pink fur.

"Icarus is missing too," Rouge spoke, standing against the wall with her arms folded.

Knuckles was a few inches in front of her as they appeared to be talking. With the exception of Tails, everyone including him shifted their eyes towards Rouge to see if she would give details. Why Amy was alone with Icarus no one could figure out.

* * *

"You said that you would go through with this plan of mine," Icarus began.

Amy was sitting against her giant pink bag while Icarus stood in front of her with a hand placed to his hip. Of course, the butterfly knew Amy was scared, but if Shadow were truly her friend, then she didn't have any reason to hesitate.

He waited for about two minutes until Amy accepted so they could perform the telepathy. Icarus could have rushed her, but Amy would be the only one to suffer from not listening to him.

After heaving a low sigh, Amy rose from the floor and allowed Icarus to place a gloved hand onto her shoulder. Then both of them closed their eyes; Amy was asked to concentrate on her friend and call out his name. Icarus enjoyed having Amy's gentle hand resting on his shoulder, that being the one and only reason he wanted to use telepathy in the first place.

"Shadow." Shadow perked his ears in alertness while sitting on the edge of a cliff. From where he was, the scent of salt wafted from the tropical beach below him while a brisk wind brushed against his quills. "Shadow..." That same high-pitched voice rang through his ears. It befuddled him as to why it was this certain rose hedgehog. It'd only been a few days since he was in her presence.

Shadow rose from the ground to see if she were standing behind him, but he was the only person in the area. "Shadow.. please say something."

It was at this moment Shadow realized that Amy had somehow been able to reach him but without having to be in front of him. Somehow, she'd obtained the ability to use telepathy. So he closed his eyes to better concentrate.

"Amy... how did you find me?" A response would have came, but Shadow didn't hear even a whisper. Something was happening on Amy's end. "Amy?" He called her voice again but no sound came.

Amy had removed her palm from Icarus's shoulder and was being stared at with a stupefied expression, but she didn't care. Icarus wouldn't have his way this time. Besides that, Amy didn't want to force Shadow to come simply because she was threatened to ask him.

"Hm," Icarus straightened his face and folded his arms while boldness flickered in Amy's emerald pupils. "Well, if that's that way ya' wanna play, then I'll just move along and look for the pen and paper that I brought with me."

"Sure.. go ahead and tell on me. That's not the real you, and you know it's true," Amy frowned and started to head for the door.

It wasn't until Amy left the room that Icarus grabbed his bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a pen and sheet of blank paper. He laid the paper on the floor while propping his elbow to lay down and write. After pulling the cap of the inked pen off, Icarus started by writing "Dear Kamimi" in the top left corner, then the current date on the opposite side. It was simple for the butterfly to plot what he wanted to write, but as he began his first sentence, he managed to push out out three words. Possibilities of punishments for Amy hoarded his mind; would Icarus really be victorious if his beloved Miss Rose suffered when she was just trying to help someone?

In the end, he found himself growing frustrated and picking up the unfinished letter to crumble it. It was futile to use blackmail when he didn't want to see Amy in trouble; it only played a essential role because Icarus wanted to know just what sort of relationship lied between Shadow and her.

"Amy, are you alright?" Cream asked her older sister-figure.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Cream. Just talking with Icarus, that's all," Amy placed a fake smile on her face.

"Grrrrrr!" Icarus found himself throwing both the crumbled paper and pen at the wall in means of unleashing his anger.

Big with Froggy on his right shoulder peered out of the window's of Tails's spaceship and could see not only the gorgeous sunset with its mixtures of purple, magenta, auburn, and gold, but the island they were heading for. From high above, he could see that the entire piece of land was shaped like a circle carrying tall, rocky mountains. "Hey, everybody," Big called the attention of his friends. "You have to see how big this island is!"

Sonic, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, and Knuckles looked through the remaining two windows next to Big and witnessed how large their destination was. It was nothing like they'd seen before. It looked beautiful because the glowing sunset reflected against the water and made it gleam like jewels.

"It's so beautiful!" exclaimed Cream.

"This is nothing compared to back home," Knuckles thought out loud.

"For a mythical island, it sure is huge," added Sonic, motioning to walk up to Tails who was now landing the spaceship towards Chao Island. "Hey, buddy. When we get there, we should try looking for whoever the leader is."

"Good idea," Tails nodded while still holding controls to lower the ship.

Everyone else except for Sonic kept their eyes on Chao Island. The closer they approached it, the more dismay that aroused. Paths that formed waterfalls weren't flowing with water because shattered boulders were blocking its way, trees were shriveled as their leaves had wilted, and no chao were to be seen.

"Sonic, come look at this!" Knuckles raised his voice.

A remembrance of the wisdom from the light entered Sonic's mind. With the island's appearance, it was no wonder it asked for him to bring medical and construction items. If the chao couldn't manage to keep their environment suited well, then how would they be able to take care of themselves?

Rouge was known not to care about too many people besides herself, but this tragic scene managed to touch her and make her feel concerned for all the chao infants. Her palms and face were glued to the glass window like Amy and Cream; there had to be an explanation.

"What could've happened here? It looks like a tornado or hurricane visited it."

"You're probably right about that, Rouge," Knuckles gave his input.

"But that doesn't give us enough answers," Tails interjected. "There should have been someone to watch over and help them grow."

"What do you mean by that, Tails?" asked Amy as her and everyone else turned around to face him.

"Well, it only makes sense. Chao are like real babies. They don't have the strength or stamina to live and move on their own unless you teach them the needed skills and keep them fed. Also, without someone to watch over and teach them good morals, it takes longer for them to reach maturity. Your behavior reflects how they learn and breed with other Chao to populate their numbers."

"So, every Chao is meant to prosper depending on which path the owner wants them to take?" queried Rouge.

"Right. Chao can learn many different talents. You just have to decide what you want them to excel at. If no one is there to help them grow, then not only will they lack intelligence, but eventually their population will cease to exist."

No one liked the sound of that. There had to be a way to help the young-minded chao flourish into strong and healthy adults.

"Hmmm... that gives me an idea..."

Everyone turned their faces towards Amy, noticing her place a hand to her chin and ponder on something.

"What?" asked Cream.

"When we get to the island, all of us can pick one chao and raise it until its independent enough to live on its own." Amy smiled at this creative idea of hers, but unfortunately everyone else didn't feel quite the same about it.

"Amy, are you crazy?" Knuckles responded in a tone of disbelief. "How will any of us have the time? Something like that takes years."

"Not necessarily," Tails leaped into the discussion. "Chao age faster then we do. So really, you're only looking at three weeks."

"But that's still too long."

"Oh, is it, Knuckie?"

Knuckles silenced himself as Rouge spoke with a playful tone and smirked. This was the last person he needed to tell him something. "Just be quiet, Rouge. You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't? I know you're just worrying over my Master Emerald, but it's going to be alright. Right now we need to work together and figure out how we're going to help these Chaos' lives return to being peaceful again."

"Hmph," Knuckles folded his arms and turned his sight from the treasure hunter. "My Emerald she says. Hmm?" Knuckles looked forward to see Cream with Cheese hovering beside her.

"Rouge is right, Mr. Knuckles. When we get to the island, all of the chao will be happy that we've decided to come and help them." After Cream widened her smile along with Cheese, a smallish one found its way on Knuckles's mouth. He had to admit that for a six year old, Cream contained a lot of courage about helping others recover. She held faith in Knuckles even when he appeared to be rebelling against the idea of taking a parental role.

The sound of a door opening interrupted the touching moment as Icarus stepped into the room. He happened to grab everyone's attention.

Tails's spaceship was now twenty feet from the ground.

Already, Icarus appeared strange to everyone since he'd been in the backroom with Amy for about half an hour and finally returned after about five minutes; something was going on between them that Amy didn't want to share.

"Hey, Icarus," Sonic broke the silence with his cool tone.

"So we're almost done landing, right?" Icarus deliberately ignored Sonic and walked up to Tails.

Everyone except for Sonic stared at Icarus in wonder of his rude attitude. Sonic didn't know he always received this sort of disrespect, but he was used to it.

"Hey! Sonic just said "hi" to you. Aren't you going to say something back to him?" Amy glared at Icarus.

"Hello, blue boy," Icarus spoke in the most dry tone he could.

Rouge couldn't keep herself from not worrying about Amy. Something about the rosy rascal carried an absolute difference. Whatever Icarus had told her couldn't have been anything good. One way or another, Rouge would find out what really went down.

* * *

Tails chose to land his vehicle beside an empty pool. He opened his spaceship's cockpit that opened from the top and formed a walkway. Everyone walked down it in a single file line with their luggage in both hands; Big was the only one who could be seen carrying a large fishing pole over his left shoulder and a huge cloth sack with material for everyone's tents.

The gang studied their surroundings once they reached the dried ground. With a closer view, Chao Island looked much more shocking.

"Hey, you guys," began Rouge. "Where do you think we should set up for camp?"

"Hmmm..." Icarus shifted his eyes to look at the area around them. He seemed to know more about this place then anyone else, so they left geography skills up to him. "Over there," the butterfly pointed towards a cave twenty feet in front of them. "We'll be more warm if we stay in there."

And so, Amy and her friends prepared to pace with their belongings as Icarus led them towards the single cave.

While walking through the island, Sonic formulated a question to give Tails; ever since they'd arrived on the island, everything had been mute.

"Tails. Do you think the Chao are hiding from us?"

The twin-tailed fox looked to the left, then to the right. His best friend had a good point about what he'd just said.

"You're probably right. After we set up our tents, we should split up and search for them."

Shadow flashed in Amy's mind as they were approaching the cave. Surely he would choose to look for her after hearing her voice several times. The situation brought Amy guilt because it wasn't her full intention to invite Shadow, and yet Icarus had pulled off his blackmailing stunt. Amy would think the idea over, but she feared that Shadow was still upset with her.

So now the young girl's mind was tangled on whether she should have went along with Icarus's demands, or to convince herself that it was alright not to invite Shadow.

"Amy?"

"Huh?"

"We made it to the cave," Cream told her, the rest of Amy's friends waiting for her mind to return.

"Ohh... sorry you guys."

Amy returned to walking after Cream and the others once they saw her attention was given. She knew how much stress she was expressing. Sooner or later, Amy's friends would ask what the problem was and expect an answer. Unknown to her, Rouge was already certain about who could possibly have Amy feeling the way she was.

Rouge diverted her eyes towards the shape-shifting butterfly while he remained in front of them, now holding a flashlight to guide them through the shadowed tunnel. When everyone else was gone, Rouge would interrogate him.

"This cave is pretty long," Big pointed out.

"No worries," retorted Icarus. "Any minute now we should -"

Icarus including his companions stopped in their tracks. A recognizable large albatross was heading towards them in hopes of returning to the outside of the cave. He gasped in utter surprise when noticing Sonic and his friends entering this place. Their appearances weren't expected at all. Everyone stared at him while he stared back at them in an awkward silence; this was Icarus's first time meeting the gray bird, so he remained the most silent.

"Sonic...? W-what are you guys doing here?"

"Same thing I wanna ask you," Sonic looked up at the Babylon Rogue.

"Storm. Do you know what happened to this island?" asked Tails.

"Huh?"

Storm turned his tiny cerulean eyes towards the young fox then began to scratch his head. He was just as curious to know about the island's past as they were. "Well, I'm not sure to tell you the truth. Jet and Wave told me that they wanted to come here for vacation, and when I tried to ask why, they didn't tell me."

"They're here too?" Sonic and Tails stared at each other after giving this remark in total unison. Then they laughed over the matter and rubbed their heads. While Sonic had a friendly rivalry with Jet, Tails found himself learning more and more similarities between Wave and him. To know that they also came to this island made both hedgehog and fox eager to see them.

"Yeah, they're back over this way," Storm pointed a bulky finger at the path he walked from. It was pitch black, but thanks to Icarus's flashlight, the opening would appear.

Storm was told to gather extra firewood, but in an instant forgot about the simple task and motioned to leading Sonic and the others towards his friends.

By the time Sonic and his friends reached the outside of the cave, the huge pearl-like moon was out with millions of twinkling stars spread across the sky. They'd been led to a segment of the island where a bridge constructed with white bricks crossed over where clear water use to stream through, and darkened mountains could be seen in the distance.

From where they stood, Tails could discover an image of a fire, tents, and people sitting around it's warming embers.

"That must be Wave and Jet. Let's go, you guys."

* * *

Conversing with the birds were two adult chao who happened to be male. One was wearing a pair of reading glasses and had a bushed gray mustache. He was known as the Chao Principal, but in Wave and Jet's case, they preferred to call him by Mr. Chao. As for the second cyan creature, he carried patches of gray hair on both sides of his head, and his alias was the Chao Doctor; but again, the Babylon Rogues instead named him Dr. Chao. It was only more proper and respectful to do so.

"Is that so?" replied Mr. Chao, as Wave had just finished explaining how the mysterious light called her to Chao Island. "Well, because Dr. Chao and I have reached maturity, we've been the main ones who've managed to survive for these past four centuries. It hasn't been easy taking care of the rest of our kind."

"Where are they now?" asked Jet.

"... they've perished."

Wave and even Jet gasped in shock of this. Mr. Chao had thrown this response at them in such a blunt manner. Had they came all of this way for nothing? Just to hear that the ones they'd intended to rescue were already gone?

Suddenly, Dr. Chao and Wave widened their eyes as they noticed Jet walk up to the Chao Principal and snatch him by the neck.

"Jet!" Wave cried in utter astonishment.

"Mr. Chao!" added Dr. Chao, clasping his stubbed hands in fear.

The Chao Principal tried his best to fight back against Jet's tight grasp around his neck. There was no reason for Jet to react in this harsh manner and behave violent. The viridian-colored bird placed an icy glare on Mr. Chao while he huffed to keep his temper from rising any further. "Please, let me go!" begged Mr. Chao, "I know what it sounds like, but you have to understand-" The Chao Principal started to cough before he could finish his sentence; Jet's grip between his head and body was too strong.

"Understand what? That you and this other shrimp here let all of your friends die? That even as adults you couldn't think of a way to fix it?"

Jet saw that the intellectual chao didn't form anything to say. He was placing too much pressure on the poor chao, but didn't want to admit it. His mind was too fixated on why innocent chao had to suffer because of two mere older chao.

Wave became angry as she realized her friend had left Mr. and Dr. Chao in pools of sheer self-disappointment. It couldn't have been their fault that things resulted in the fashion they had. For the kindness they showed, both adults deserved more respect then what Jet was throwing at them.

The female swallow clenched her fists as a means of calming down, but it was no use. Jet had went too far, and the heir of Babylon Garden needed to be scolded. Embers blazed in her cobalt-blue eyes while she'd risen from the ground and gritted her teeth. Dr. Chao happened to notice Wave's reaction and was startled by her expressive anger. When women grew angry, further approaching them was a huge mistake.

"Jet! Let go of him!"

Jet caught hint of the pleading in Wave's voice. Moments later, he dropped the Chao Principal and watched him crawl back to his seat while holding his neck gingerly and start regaining breath. Dr. Chao was relieved to see his friend still in good condition, but fear aroused in his oval indigo pupils when he glanced up at Jet. If he happened to say the wrong words, that brutal hawk's hands could be squeezing his fragile neck.

Wave had more to say, but was taken aback that Jet didn't have anything to say for why he snatched Mr. Chao. "Why did you do that? There are other ways to respond to something a person says instead of grabbing them by the neck! Just look how much pain you gave him."

With his eyebrows still furrowed, Jet stared down at Mr. Chao and noticed the elder still rubbing his throat. Somehow, that expression of helplessness didn't affect him; rather, it was something the thief had been used to. The question was, why was Wave letting it bother her? "Come on, Wave. It wasn't like I was gonna kill the guy or anything."

"Well if you'd held onto to him for any longer you could have."

That remark alone ignited it. It was all Jet needed to hear for him to plot his next decision. He placed his eyes on Wave and she stared back into them. She felt bold, but then after noticing something unusual from Jet, her jaw dropped a bit while a surprised reaction appeared on her face. Jet's eyes were filled with so much disappointment and dissatisfaction, that it'd been enough to pierce her gaze and send a chill down her spine. He'd never sent her a reaction like this one. It was significant and rare. Their stare at each other had only lasted for about two seconds until Jet turned away and dashed off towards the opposite ends of the island.

"Jet, wait!" Wave reached her hand out, but he didn't bother to stop or look back. Dr. and Mr. Chao both stayed quiet as they didn't know what to say.

Storm and the others would have walked up to Wave and greeted her, but she was looking down with gloom.

"Wave..." Tails thought in deep concern.

Everyone stayed where they were and watched the violet swallow walk towards her purple tent while two chao remained sitting in front of the campfire. Sonic's wonder was where Jet disappeared off to.

".. I'll go talk to her and see what happened," Storm gave assurance, walking towards the campsite.

Meanwhile, Tails and his friends still had to choose a location for their tents; carrying their luggage for so long was making them grow tired.

"Let's set up our tents on the other side of this bridge."

And so, Tails led everyone back across the bridge they'd headed through and started towards the western segment of the field. A tent was available for each person, and they decided to position their fabric shelters to form a circle; in the middle would be their fire and wood.

Sonic and Tails had forgot about searching for the chao. And so, Amy asked them and the other boys if they could all leave to gather the water and firewood while the girls prepared the dinner. Amy was so glad that she decided to bring ingredients for chili dogs along with the rest of the assorted foods, for it was her blue hero's favorite dish.

Soon everyone was able to enjoy scrumptious chili dogs around the blazing fire with water to drink. Amy with Tails's assistance poured water into everyone's canteens and made sure the amounts were even; that way when it would be time to retrieve more water, Sonic would only have to make one trip.

The conversation during their meal was about the island they were on and who those two chao talking with Wave could have been. Tails mentioned that he wanted to check if Wave were feeling better, but Amy guaranteed that she would recover from whatever happened. Then the discussion moved onto how everyone would introduce themselves to the chao duo tomorrow, and how they could have been the leaders of this land.

* * *

Now that everyone was asleep, Rouge could ask Amy about her words with Icarus earlier. The feminine bat crept from inside her tent, past the burning campfire, and towards Amy's. No one would know about this. Rouge had the entire situation under control, that is until a familiar foreign accent interrupted her footsteps.

"Ya' know it's pretty late now? I don't think Amy's woken up yet."

Rouge faced Icarus to see folded arms with a stern expression on his face. It made sense for him to also be resting, but Rouge figured the butterfly had trouble sleeping. Either way, she would fulfill her plan.

Icarus was also oblivious to Rouge, but acknowledged that she wanted something important since it was one o' clock in the morning and appeared to be walking.

"Hm. Well you're awake. Maybe I can talk to you," Rouge's face developed seriousness while she placed a hand on her slender hip.

"About what?"

"About you and Amy."

Icarus was surprised to hear the bat mention Amy. It was possible the others and her could have figured out what he put her through with the blackmail, but Icarus wasn't going to give them any more hints. Instead, he placed a smile on his lips and kept his arms folded. "Oh, ya' think we'd make a great couple?"

"No! You're way off topic."

Icarus's wings drooped and he became irritated. It'd been the careless tone that Rouge used when she replied. Icarus understood that the only person who might show him some respect was Tails, Cream, and Big. As for everyone else, they discovered his bad traits and decided to keep a distance from him, especially Amy.

"I'm talking about earlier, on the spaceship. You two were in the backroom for long time, and Amy didn't look so well after she came out."

The more Rouge explained, the closer Icarus could feel of being exploited. The anthropomorphous insect didn't expect the cold guilt that he was feeling. He'd have to present a passable excuse so the topic would disappear. Still, how did he expect to take Amy into another room and not see her friends to grow curious?

"And you think it's something I did?" Icarus replied in a straight-forward tone.

"Yeah, you better believe I do."

It seemed Icarus had underestimated Rouge more than he thought. She was verbally cornering him. At this rate, he didn't have anywhere to turn but to more lying. "What did you two talk about?" Rouge continued with her interrogation.

"Just about this island." Rouge locked her eyes onto his in hopes of finding some signs of falsehood, that way she could figure out the truth. Icarus was prepared to play a staring contest if necessary. If he made any sudden reactions, then he'd appear less definite about his response. As the butterfly had already been left stupefied by Amy, he didn't feel that her friends should know about their conversation back on Tails's spaceship.

"Fine then," the GUN Agent spoke after taking her gaze off Icarus. "Just remember what'll happen if you really hurt her."

After Rouge turned around and headed for her tent, Icarus huffed and crossed his arms in utter annoyance. Just who did that woman think she was? Digging into his business just like she would search for buried treasure. She'd had no idea about why Icarus talked with Amy in private to begin with.

"Tch. There's no reason for me ta' get upset. One way or another, I will meet Shadow."

Icarus motioned to sitting in front of the campfire. It's crimson, copper, and yellow flames felt pleasant against his his skin. Watching the fire progress with crackling and licking at the thick tree bark seem to keep him entertained. This hadn't been the first time that he found himself in front of a fire.

When Icarus was about seven years old, he was training to master a skill that ran in his family for countless generations; this was the ability to shape-shift from his anthropomorphic form and into an bug. And so, on one bright afternoon where the sun had its most radiance, Icarus was practicing his special technique yet again. Only this time, Kamimi was spectating while resting her back against the trunk of a tree. Her face was shadowed and couldn't be viewed because of the hooded velvet cloak she was wearing.

"Alright! I think I got it now, Kamimi," Icarus had declared, bending his knees in preparation to jump.

Kamimi had expected the young insect to excel after so much practice at his shape-shifting. And like she'd guessed, he'd aroused from the fog of smoke as an actual butterfly. In excitement of himself, Icarus fluttered around as if he were in a hyper mood.

"Kamimi, look at me! I'm an actual butterfly! Hahahahaha!"

Kamimi couldn't have helped but join in this joyful laughter. Icarus could and still were able to call himself an official shape-shifter.

Moments later, Kamimi had asked Icarus to detransform and watch so she could present the elemental magic that he'd kept asking in a curious manner about.

"Yeah. The one you said you learned from your sister."

Kamimi had risen from the ground and position both her hands at a ninety degree angle. It looked as if she were carrying something; soon enough she would.

Icarus's eyes shined like polished amethysts as he kept them on Kamimi's palms. He first saw an ember the size of a marble appear, then that tiny substance steadily increased in size; it appeared as if her hands were suffering from the awesome heat, but Kamimi didn't show any signs of pain. Icarus's naive and innocent assumption was that she'd had on fire-proof gloves. Regardless, he couldn't take his eyes off of it. It looked so enchanting and mysterious. If Kamimi stood in absolute darkness with this same fiery ball, the area would light up as though daytime had arrived.

At the age he was now, Icarus remembered Kamimi's magical fire. These fueled embers that he was sitting in front of was incomparable. It wasn't as fascinating or worth his while to gaze at, although it helped to remind him of Kamimi.

* * *

That Amy Rose... I was certain that I heard her name those hours earlier or I wouldn't have traveled through the entire vicinity of Station Square to find her. The fact that she wasn't home made me grow suspicious, and a bit worried.

Every building grew smaller once I made my way to the very top of the highest skyscraper. There was something to the moon that caught my interest. I placed my eyes on it and began to study its perfect curves. Maria always enjoyed speaking with me about this, including the stars and other planets of the entire galaxy. If she were here and still alive, she would have enjoyed seeing the moon from this point of view, where it was enormous and lingered in the sky to gaze at from any spot.

"W-what the-?" All of a sudden, what used to be the moon faded into a giant version of Amy's head. Her appeared to be troubled, as if someone had said something that hurt her feelings. But I didn't understand why she appeared to begin with.

I shook my head wishing that image of hers would disappear; and so it did once I reopened my eyes. There wasn't anything that could've caused me to see her face, except if I were hallucinating, but Maria had been the only person on my mind at this particular moment.

"Woo hoo!"

Hm. One of those pathetic humans shouting from outside their window appeared to be something they were excited about, but I couldn't see who was the one who gave this noisy shout, and I could care less what it was for.

I folded my arms and returned my eyes to the normal moon. When I least expected, a high pitched noise sounded. My ears perked up as I tried to locate the source of this loud noise. My question was answered when I discovered a streak of blue light heading upward as if it were trying to touch the moon. Then, it exploded into millions of tinier lights, leaving a crackling noise.

I tried to what this light's purpose was, and there again, I find myself seeing HER again. Just what is the meaning of this? The more I think, the more perplexed I become. It's as if it's a problem that can never be solved.

In the end, I figured that my best option would be to leave this city and get some fresher air so I could clear my head. So I leapt down from the building and started for a nearby forest.

* * *

Inside the forest I'd chosen, I noticed an entrance to an eerie cave. Staying inside of this could mean that I wouldn't have to gaze back up at the moon and think back to that image I saw of Amy's face, so I dashed towards it without worrying about the absence of its light. Being enshrouded in darkness would help me think clearer about how to settle this strange hallucinating.

I started walking through the cave, only to notice a few bats flutter from their spots on the wall and screech. Other than that, this tunnel I was heading through was deadly silent. Regardless of this, those green eyes returned to mind. They were always bright and full of energy. Once my eyes laid on them, it was never easy for me to look away from. But why did they grab my attention so easily? Why did she happen to stand out when the two of us didn't share a connection?

As these thoughts traveled through my mind, a mysterious, glowing sphere suddenly appeared before my eyes. I ceased my walking and stared at this strange light for some time, until I had to look away and shield my eyes from its growing brightness.


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing about that orange light seemed normal. He didn't know where it came from, or why it'd approached him.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere around the dark hedgehog was no longer silent. For now grasshoppers could be heard chirping. And the temperature was brisk and cold; as if he were... outside, laying against soft jungle grass on his back.

As the Ultimate Life Form grew to acknowledge where he was, he slowly lifted his eyes and saw for himself. A tropical scent wafted through his black nose. There were baboon leaves everywhere. Because they blocked view of the outside world, Shadow assumed that he was in the heart of this mysterious rain-forest; it illustrated him as an actual shadow since all of the moon light hadn't made its way through the roofs of the trees.

But how had he ended up here? That light couldn't have been the reason, unless it had a sole purpose to do so. But pondering on that only confused Shadow even more.

Exploring was his best option, so he rose from the ground and started on the road in front of him.

* * *

The golden sun rose not only by itself, but along with its shades of red, violet, magenta, orange, and yellow.

Without Chao Island's water to flourish and pour throughout its lakes, the sun didn't have anything to reflect off of and give color to but its bluish-gray mountains.

For their first night here, Amy and her friends could say they'd had a great night's rest. And with enough energy from sleeping, they would be able to start their adventure and locate the missing chao infants.

Sonic and the other boys were asked to gather fire wood so Amy and Cream could cook eggs and bacon in her black frying pan.

Of course as Icarus tagged along with them, he decided to explore more of the island by himself. He had trouble getting his conversation with Rouge from last night out of his mind. She'd tried to act so cool about her argument. One way or another, Icarus would get to meet the Ultimate Life Form.

The butterfly began on his path once the others weren't paying attention.

After five minutes, they didn't hear an Irish accent anymore, and Tails asked aloud, "Uhh.. does anyone know where Icarus went? He was just behind us a few seconds ago."

Like 'blue boy' would care.

"Well, none of us saw him run off, so let's just stick to gettin' the firewood," Sonic assured in an uninterested tone.

Tails could understand why his best friend was acting like this. If anything, who was to say his disappearance would bother them?

So while the fox and his companion furthered with their search for wood, Icarus ended up heading into the jungle area of the island. Above his head, few butterflies danced and fluttered past him, while Flickies did the same with their feathery wings.

Even if Chao Island wasn't at its best, these creatures still behaved with liveliness and cheer.

Speaking of creatures, Icarus kept his eyes on the road ahead of him and noticed a red and ebony figure approaching him from the opposite end. But he was running, at the speed of sound. Sonic had been the only person he knew who carried that ability, but now he'd witnessed what looked to be a dark image of him coming his way.

The hedgehog stopped in front of Icarus as he also decided to stop. They stared at him as if to study their appearance, but Icarus didn't like the emotionless expression they were holding.

This could've been the guy who Amy was talking about, and he'd never know unless he asked.

"Can you tell me where I am?" the hedgehog spoke before he'd gotten a chance to.

"Not until ya' tell me what your name is."

That wouldn't delay Shadow from finding the truth.

"That's none of your business."

And so like that he began past Icarus and was gone within milliseconds.

Had Icarus just missed something? That darned hog strode past him like he was wasting his time.

So this was Amy's friend? Well, he'd never been insulted in all his life up until now. For nothing would he let that 'Shadow's' rude behavior off free and not say anything about it.

* * *

While they walked, Sonic was holding more wood than Tails. Being the tough person he was, Knuckles carried more pieces of wood than Sonic and Tails, but Big was able to carry twice as much.

Once they returned to their camping site, the boys laid the wood beside the nearest tent and noticed Amy and Rouge pulling out the necessary ingredients and dishes for their food.

"After we eat, I'm gonna go see what Wave's doing, then we'll have a chance to find the chao and figure out why this island's in shams," Tails muttered to Sonic.

"Okay, buddy."

"Thank you guys so much for getting extra wood," Amy thanked with a appreciative smile.

"No problem, Ames. So, what's on the menu for today?"

"Eggs, toast, and bacon," the rose explained as Rouge started the fire with a match, "I just hope its enough for everyone."

Before Sonic could muster to give a response, Amy added, "I hope you enjoy it too, of course."

"Uhh, yeah, I'm sure it'll be great."

No matter how hard he tried, there was always something about Amy's cheerfulness in her smile that he couldn't stop growing nervous over. She always had that ability to weaken him when it came to speaking.

"Amy!" Cream called the older girl with her soft voice.

"Hm?" Amy turned around and found her pal coming from the bridge.

"Remember you said we need to fill everyone's canteens up."

"Oh, right! Well, remember Sonic, we'll have lots of time to explore this island, together."

After making a sweet giggle, Amy jogged away from her blue hero to help Cream with the given task.

* * *

While Cream filled the last container with water, she looked up; one second was enough to notice the individuals coming her way. Her friends had to see it and fast.

"Amy! Tails is coming back with Wave and two chao," the child stood up and pointed with the index finger on her free hand.

Then Amy looked at where her friend was directing her attention...

"Wave, but two chao?"

There was no more time to waste.

"Hurry, Cream!" Amy insisted as they picked up all of the canteens, "We have to let the others know about this!"

Both girl moved as fast as their legs could carry them. They worried everyone with their surprised reactions and reason for returning in such a hurry.

"Pinky, what's wrong with you and Cream?" Rouge asked as she flipped over a strip of bacon on the pan, "You girls look like you've seen a monster."

"No, way different from that," Amy corrected the bat, "Two chao are heading this way with Tails and Wave."

While Amy and Cream hurriedly set down everyone's canteens near their luggage, the rest of their friends shifted their eyes towards the area behind the bridge and did indeed see a swallow with two chao by her side.

"Who are those two Chao?" Big asked as he and Froggy noticed their extra features.

Questions were held until Tails, Wave, Mister, and Doctor Chao finally approached them.

Tails was taken off complete guard to realize his rival had decided to visit this island. Knowing her, she would've been somewhere working on her machinery or helping her boss make a jewel heist. But still he was glad to bump into the older mechanic again, and surprised by her two newest friends.

"You guys, I want to introduce Mister and Doctor Chao," began Tails with a show of his gloved hands, "These are the Chao who help give the younger Chao knowledge, or medicine when their sick."

"And they've been the only ones taking care of everything,"Wave mentioned with a hand on her waist, "But I'll let them do the explaining."

It'd only taken one second for the swallow to move her gaze and noticed her bat rival cooking the breakfast over a campfire. So they'd met again.

"Umm, Amy, if it's not too much, could they eat with us while explaining about the island?" Tails gathered the courage to ask.

"Sure! I just hope there'll be enough for everyone," Amy responded as her and Cream headed towards the pack filled with their food.

Rouge finished dealing with the foods that were still heating up, making sure to have a plate beside her on the grass to lay each morsel on when they were fully done.

So the violet Babylon Rogue had decided to visit this island also. How interesting. Rouge would end up speaking to her, she just knew it.

After everyone had received a plate filled with jellied toast, scrambled eggs, and crisp bacon, Mr. Chao gave Rouge a compliment for how the bacon tasted, then cleared his throat and parted his blue lips to discuss the situation of the island.

"As you have seen, the waters on this island don't run like they used to, nor do the trees and grass look as lively. It wasn't mentioned to Wave and her green friend, but years back a terrible hurricane hit us."

"Hm," Rouge sounded as she was chewing on her toast and realized her guess from before had been correct.

Her friends remained quiet and respectful when they ate their food or sipped from their canteens.

"And so, because it's only me and Doctor Chao, we didn't stand as enough to take care of all the chao. About a few weeks later, they developed sicknesses that Dr. Chao was sure he could remedy. But again, because of the massive hurricane, the key to the Chao Kindergarten went missing."

"Did you say key?" Knuckles rudely but with interest broke the chao's sentence.

Echidna along with his friends leaned closer with plates in their laps as this story had become more interesting and they didn't want to miss a single detail.

"Yes, it is what we call the Chao Key. It's a door that teleports you to the Chao Lobby, and from there you have four directions to choose. But for now, we should focus more on the path that leads to the Kindergarten. At least if we get there, we can restart the population."

It was like the Principal was reading Amy's mind. So now everything made more sense; this was the reason her buddies and her had came here. It was their job as heroes to help restore life to the ancient Chao Island; and it would all start with locating the special Chao Key.

"Mister Chao," Amy found herself rising from the ground, walking over to the creature, and taking his hands in hers. "My friends and I won't stop until we find that key, I promise!"

Her eyes seemed to be glistening with a newfound determination; a drive to push forward that her friends knew they'd each felt before.

Mr. Chao became astonished by this young girl's sudden strength in her words. It'd been ages since he met a person with so much confidence. But then a tiny smile found its way on his face. This hedgehog and her companions would mean business and help them. It wasn't too good to be true at all.

For someone like Amy, Wave came to admit by her smallish grin that she was impressed by the rosy rascal. It raised her spirits to know that she wasn't being a lunatic when that copper light had asked her to travel to this place. She wouldn't be alone to take on the task, and neither would Sonic with his given request.

"Yes..." the Chao Principal mustered to say as relief and hope was overtaking him, "I believe you and your friends will do it."

Along with Doctor Chao, a tear drop escaped from his eye, rolling from underneath his glasses. Then he continued with, "We owe you our lives."

"Oh, it's nothing at all," Amy giggled, "My friends and I would be willing to help you guys out."

It was at this moment the pink turned around to face her companions. And now her expression was filled with seriousness and definite boldness. "You guys, after we finish our breakfast, we should split up into two groups. Sonic, you and the boys crush those rocks we saw so the waters can finally flow again, then after that search the entire island for the Chao Key. That's what Cream, Rouge and I will help Mr. and Dr. Chao start with. Make sure to refill your canteens and return as soon as you find it, understood?"

Amy taking on this role of a leader wasn't normal, but she had what it took to be one. Her friends nodded their heads in agreement and returned to finishing their delicious meals, and last of their water before restoring their containers.

* * *

Before the heroes split up into their designated groups, Tails managed to ask Wave where Jet and Storm had wandered off to, knowing she probably wasn't in the best mood to talk; but she did answer and say that Storm went out to look for him.

Speaking of which, the gray albatross was still passing through green fields and withered trees along its dirt path, but whatsoever did there lay no sign of green feathers. It was to be expected since the island was so huge. And yet, Storm could just imagine how Wave would be if he returned and said their boss was no where to be found; sometimes Storm wondered if Wave ever had a thing for Jet, but learning the truth wasn't worth receiving a black eye or lump on the head.

"Huh?"

The giant bird ceased his footsteps as he'd felt something under his foot that wasn't dirt.

With beady blue eyes, he moved his foot and noticed a strange key laying almost smashed into the brown earth because of his huge shoe.

By now the sun had elevated to its highest point in the sky, the sky itself reached its innocent light shade of blue, while the clouds drifted on by like fluffed marshmallows.

Thanks to Wave, Storm learned how things had happened for the chao, but somehow... the island still appeared as if a bit of good remained, as though it'd held on so it could finally be restored to its fullness. The calm atmosphere hadn't faded away just yet.

When he bent over and retrieved the key from the ground, he could see that it was blue, and was topped by the shape of a baby chao's head.

"Hmmmm... I wonder what this key is for. Maybe I should keep it and see what Wave has ta' say about it."

* * *

After having crushed the humongous boulders and allowed the water from its awful trap, Sonic and the boys each split up individually to look for the special Chao Key.

Meanwhile, the girls with Wave and the adult Chao did the same.

For another half hour, Storm then journeyed into the jungle to search for Jet. He hadn't been out in the open green fields. So the albatross was at the point of assuming that the hawk was hiding behind some leaves or bushes; it was all he could think to guess.

All that ran through Jet's mind was about the incident from last night. If were up to him, he wouldn't be sitting on this branch on this tall tree, but she pushed him to do it; Wave made him feel like the wrong one for his actions, and so that was why he remained invisible now as he could notice his large henchman searching for him.

"Boss! Boss!" Storm hollered with his hands cupping his large mouth, "Boss, where are you?"

His alias kept being called out as Storm paced through the area, until Jet couldn't take it anymore and leaped down from the branch to head elsewhere.

There was no point in him returning to his friends since he hadn't done anything worth getting upset over; this made total sense to him, to go back until they were ready to leave. If the baby chao had already passed away, then just how could they be of assistance?

So without so much as hesitation, the green bird started for an unknown destination, leaving his unaware friend with still calling out for him.

* * *

As of now, Shadow could confirm that he was on a island, one that wasn't deserted. He'd have to keep forward with running since that butterfly didn't hold the required information. No matter, he knew that other signs of life would appear soon.

Having found his way out of the jungle, more of the afternoon sunlight kissed his body. Air swept against his face and dark quills as he kept running. Because of his energized hover air skates, his strides against the earth were very silent. Those deep ruby eyes of his shifted steadily left and right for any possible clues.

Scents of cooked food visited his nose; it had to be some kind of meat he was sure.

Then up ahead two lines of tents with piled fire wood in the middle came into view.

The loner came to a stop and took in these new surroundings. Judging by the remaining grease in the empty frying pan, someone had prepared a meal, and hadn't left from this area too long ago. So catching up to them wouldn't be a difficult task.

He looked away from the campsite and towards the distant green plains, then in a flash began striding with his red skates towards its horizon.

* * *

With the streaming waters now able to flow through their intersections, Chao Island was given a whole new look; with its crystal clear waters alone it regained most of its normalcy.

It was one of these lakes that Amy and her group had been walking beside.

Cream couldn't help but watch itself trail along the current. It had been because of this the vegetation was dying, but now, now it would be able to have food to live on, and to see the island in full green was something Cream grew joyful to expect.

So while she walked by the sides of Amy and the adult chao, Rouge and Wave for some reason stayed behind them. Few glances were exchanged, but nothing more.

When Rouge did place her eyes on the swallow's, she could remember the last challenge she'd offered her. It was to see who could obtain one of the worlds' most ancient treasures first, and of course Wave held onto her pride.

Both women had reached their destination where the precious sapphire was kept in, eager to rub the victory in each other's faces once it was grasped in their palm... but life had changed everything for the worst. Neither of them were able to take the sapphire for themselves; instead, that darned purple wolf-weasel surprised both of them and swiped the jewel for himself.

Matters had been only made worse as he commented on both of their bodies and suggested, "Maybe after I take this beauty home, one of you ladies can be next."

But he was stupid if he thought they would let him get away with words like that.

Punching him at the same time in his jaw, bat and swallow had prepared things of their own to say; swallow going first.

"Get real! If one of us is going go with you, it should be this wannabe huntress right here!"

"Wannabe? You can't even survive on your own without those two bird boys of yours."

"I can do things without them! And they're not my 'bird boys'! It's just that we work as a team, but you wouldn't know the difference!"

Wave had remembered how embarrassed she became on that day as her face had become as red as a ripe tomato.

No one had spoke a word after that, leaving her with even more embarrassment.

"W-whatever, I'm out of here!"

These last words replayed in Wave's mind as she thought about that whole scene.

She found herself grunting in irritation as she took another glance at bat who'd made her feel dumb that day. In the midst of helping Chao Island return to normal, she would come up with another way to prove her wrong, no matter how long it took.

"Mr. Chao?" That light voice of Amy's distracted Wave's thoughts.

She looked forward to the pink girl and noticed they'd stopped walking. But for what reason?

Just at that moment, the Babylon Rogue noticed everyone had looked to their lefts and noticed the entrance to a shadowy cave with a waterfall blinding it and continuing into a small body of water, and rocks for stair steps. The water stream they were walking along was what connected to its miniature pond and continued past the cave.

"What's inside that cave?" Amy continued.

"That, my friend, is the entrance that leads to the Challenge Region. It's a land where chao can compete against each other, whether its through an obstacle course or martial arts."

Chao that were known to be cuddly and adorable became more appealing, seemingly after the Chao principal gave this explanation. No one could imagine the little tikes dueling against each other, or giving it their all in a race. Was there more to these Chao than met the eye?

In her mind, Amy thought, "Just wait until Sonic and the others hear about this!"

"There's something you should all know about this region though," Dr. Chao interjected, "It'll need the Chao Key if you want to get inside."

Dead silence arose after he said that.

Excitement perished, but...

"Don't worry, Doctor Chao. We just have to keep looking."

With that said, the confident rose started walking, leading her companions past the cave and onward to commence the rest of their search.

* * *

Searching and searching for over an hour, Storm wasn't feeling in the best condition and yearned for a break. Not only had his feet started to ache, but earlier the albatross hadn't ate so much during breakfast like he could have.

In the end, Wave hadn't shared with him the drama between her and Jet from the night before. If Storm got a chance to learn about it, he would at least feel more reason to look for the stubborn hawk. But maybe this situation was just another one of their arguments he always had with Wave.

Storm didn't know, but any minute now, he was sure his stomach would start grumbling for more food.

Having left the contents of the deep jungle and returned to the grassy fields, a black figure suddenly came into view. The closer they approached, the easier Storm could make out their physical appearance.

A white tuft of hair on his chest.

Red streaks on his head.

Eyes the color of blood.

"Hey, that's the guy who looks like Sonic."

Soon all of the pieces came together; Storm paced towards the hedgehog as if he were acquainted with him.

Another sign of life had been discovered.

Shadow recognized the humongous bird coming his way, but still he wasted no time in stopping for them. They could've had the answers he wanted for all he knew.

"Hey, you're Shadow, right?" Storm began as they'd stood a fair distance apart.

"Yes, so what does it mean to you?" Shadow crossed his arms.

"Just wondering, that's all."

This talk was going nowhere, Shadow could tell; the atmosphere wouldn't stay pleasant whenever his patience grew thin.

Before he could pour the words from his mouth though, Storm deliberately handed him a small object and had something to say. "Say, could you give this to Wave? I would do it myself, but I'm kinda' already busy. Thanks, see ya' later!"

Even Shadow had to process again what'd just taken place. That feathered buffoon had rushed with his words so quickly and also with his departure, not to mention he'd just shoved some item towards his face; and without realizing the hedgehog took it in his gloved hands.

But what was this strange object? A key of some sorts... it came in a shape that Shadow had never seen before at all.

Maybe it was the key also to learning why he was sent to this island to begin with.

"Hmm... what could a key like this possibly go to?"

The ebony male turned the key to study it at different angles, but to no avail did its origins stick out.

"No matter... looks like I have no choice but to keep this and hope it can bring me the answers I want."


	5. Chapter 5

Sunset arrived faster than anyone expected. And when the sun made its glorious appearance along with its set of passionate and warm colors, that was when Amy and Sonic's groups bumped into each other in the grassy plains. There wasn't anything for neither group to present.

As they approached each other, Amy gave the obvious query, "Did you guys find the key yet?"

"No, we've looked everywhere," Sonic answered with a hint of disappointment in his voice, "Do you think that maybe it was already picked up by someone?"

"But who else would need it except for the chao?" Wave interjected.

"Unless it got destroyed in the hurricane," came in Knuckles's guess.

As true as this could sound and be, nobody wanted it to meet their ears. If the key having vanished were the case, then it happening would've been too good to be true. No… there had to be another explanation behind it all, or else Amy wouldn't feel as confident as when she started to part her lips for a assuring response.

"No… it has to be on this island somewhere."

There was more the leader-like rose wanted to say, but faint noises of grumbling stomachs managed to reach her ears. It came from both Mr. and Dr. Chao; noticing their stubby hands over their yellow bellies only made the situation clearer.

"But first we'll have to get some food into our stomachs," Amy introduced this matter.

When he thought about it, Big had to confess, "Froggy and I are getting hungry."

"Me and Cheese are getting hungry too," Cream added her input with Cheese also speaking.

Without words, Knuckles put a gloved hand to his stomach to try easing his abdomen from its faint growling; no one was left without their stomach's crying for food it seemed.

As the heroes had met up in the middle of the green fields, a familiar hawk hiding behind a leafy bush kept up with them and managed to gain information about a 'key'. The idea of what it could unlock came to mind; possibly a...

"Hey, there you are, boss!" Storm's voice bellowed from behind Jet, making him jump out of his feathers and scream in fear.

"Storm, what are you doing here?"

If the albatross's voice were any louder, then Sonic would be asking Jet this question.

"Wave asked me ta' look for you," Storm answered while peeking through leaves to notice Sonic and the others beginning to walk.

"Hmph!" Jet crossed his arms with an annoyed glare, " I know how to find my way back to the campsite, you know."

"But Wave asked me ta' see where you'd went."

"Well.. she's just wasting her time. I've got bigger things to worry about, like this key I overheard Sonic and his friends talking about," the emerald bird looked away with his arms still folded.

Something about this response... Storm thought he knew what his leader was talking about; of course.

"Oh, you mean the thing I gave Shadow?"

What...?

"You gave Shadow the key?"

The next thing Storm knew, a clenched fist came to his head and left a large lump there. Gingerly rubbing it, he turned his beady blue eyes back to Jet and responded with excuse in his voice, "I didn't know what it was for, and Shadow just happened ta' show up."

"That key could unlock anything but now Shadow has it!" Jet thought to himself with and placed on chin.

Treasure maybe? Jet was certain how things would turn out once he obtained it and opened the door to an ancient cave of jewels and gold. He would be in heaven then, swimming through the pool of different valuable objects, luxuriating in it... as it all would belong to him.

Next, he returned his view to the older bird and commanded, "Quick, follow me! We need to find out what that key's for before Sonic and his friends do."

* * *

While Amy and the other girls were busy preparing food, everyone else sat on the ground and chatted amongst each other. The adult chao resided in the middle of everyone else as they'd somehow formed a circle, except for Big, who could be seen standing beside the bridge's lake attempting to catch some fish with his fishing pole and delectable bait; Wave wasn't much of a chef, so she'd taken her seat next to 'Shorty'.

It was minutes later Icarus approached their campsite and noticed what was taking place. For some reason, two bluish creatures were with his friends. He prepared to walk past everyone and towards them to see who they were, but the moment Amy noticed him, she'd parted her lips.

"Icarus, did you see a key lying around while we were gone?" the pink girl queried as she was utilizing a can opener to open a can of chili.

"A key? No, I haven't," Icarus put a hand to his chin, "Why do ya' ask?"

"It's the key that we need to go inside the Chao Kindergarten. Mister and Doctor Chao said so."

By now, the can had been fully opened, so Amy poured its contents into the small cauldron already being heated up.

"It seems that we haven't met yet."

Icarus spun around and learned these sudden words had came from the Chao who carried a pair of glasses and gray mustache.

"You may call me Mr. Chao, and this is my friend, Doctor Chao."

"Well hi, I'm Icarus," the butterfly made a friendly smile, "It's very nice ta' meet you two. So, what's all this talk about a kindergarten key?"

As the Chao Principal began with, "Yes, about that...", Shadow approached them; the one and only.

Seeing that everyone had noticed something by the expressions on their faces, Icarus decided to check what was going on for himself, and ended up being sent into total shock. His eyes couldn't believe what they'd found. "Huh? That's-"

"Shadow!"

To be relieved or surprised, Amy didn't know which emotion to cling onto. But one thing was certain... he'd shown up after she called those few times, and it hadn't been long since then. Shadow really had made his appearance like she 'wanted'.

Although, something pretty familiar rested in the black hedgehog's grip. Mr. Chao had to fix his glasses to make sure he weren't seeing any illusions. What he and the others witnessed was no trick at all.

"Oh my Chaos! He's got the Chao Key!" the adult confirmed with an astounded tone.

"Your absolutely right!" added Doctor Chao, "He's stumbled upon it!"

The Chao Key... so that's what he'd been carrying in his glove this whole time; what Storm felt was best to give him, and what seemed to be what these blue imps held knowledge about. Not to mention, since the faker and his friends were present, they also must've learned a thing or two about it.

"The Chao Key..." Jet repeated this name in a low and curious whisper while he hid behind one of the camping tents.

Wave pointed out, "This means we can go to the Chao Lobby now."

"And we can save this island!" Amy took a step toward Shadow with a smile bigger than her eyes on her lips, "It's all thanks to you, Shadow."

Chao Lobby? Able to save the island? Shadow needed more explanation than what he was hearing.

As these different questions swam through his mind, Shadow happened to notice Amy dash towards him with her arms out, then wrap him into a tight embrace. He could just feel her excitement inside of this unexpected hug. But what made her think she had the right to do such a thing?

This question came to Icarus's mind as he witnessed the scene and became utterly disgusted about it. It wasn't fitting at all to him, as he thought, "What does she see in that hedgehog?"

"Getting jealous, are we?" Rouge sent the butterfly a teasing grin; such a nerve that bat woman hit when she asked this.

After these passing moments, Amy still couldn't believe that he'd came. So what if she'd been blackmailed into contacting him. It'd been the thought that mattered since Shadow also appeared with the same item they were so desperately looking for. He could be a true hero and Amy didn't regret saying it.

Taking the Ultimate Life Form into a hug had seemed like her only way of expressing thanks when they could now save lives and return happiness to those who'd lost it. Yet, this went on for a silent five seconds. Her friends began to grow awkward, then she realized her actions and in a dumbfounded fashion looked up at Shadow; he didn't look to pleased to get embraced at all, but more like greatly confused and somewhat annoyed. He hadn't gotten the same answers he wanted but instead got hugged by Sonic's fan girl.

"Oh!" Amy backed away from the hedgehog as redness stained her cheeks.

Even after this, the atmosphere remained quiet; no one spoke a word, and Amy couldn't, but only feel the embarrassment expose her whole self as she placed her arms behind her back.

Knuckles spoke for himself when he admitted he couldn't take anymore of this as if time had stopped. "So are we just gonna sit here and play the quiet game for the rest of the day?"

So Amy and the other girls decided it was time to return to preparing dinner since they'd obtained the Chao Key.

The sky above their heads began to turn into a darkish-gray while its puffy clouds remained, but there was nothing of it.

Amy assured that Shadow could have some food of his own in case his stomach were crying, so he stood by the water and decided he'd want to take in his surroundings.

Water indeed flowed through this island at a gentle pace. It explained why he saw those two adult chao. Life in fact existed on this mysterious island, but more of the answers laid in that Chao Key. Having no choice but to tag along with Amy and the others was something he'd accepted and realized he had to do.

Before Amy could pour the meaty chili from its can and into her frying pan, a single raindrop met with its black surface first. "Huh?"

Soon more raindrops followed by this one as Amy suffered the water sprinkling down on her head; niether of her friends were excluded from this.

"Great, it's raining!" Knuckles confirmed as he hurried for his tent.

"Quick, before this food gets wet," Rouge agreed as she grabbed the package of breaded buns, plates, and condiments.

One by one everyone gathered themselves into their assigned resting places, Wave and the adult chao rushing over to their campsite.

There was no use in trying to keep their ignited campfire alive as its embers sizzled when being pummeled by the rain.

There was no reason for Shadow to stay now when technically he were only staying beside them when it came time to use Chao Key, so he turned on his heel and started off for the jungle.

"Ames, where are you going? It's starting to rain harder!" Sonic yelled out to the rose as he discovered she'd started jogging.

"Well we can't leave Shadow outside by himself!" Amy looked over her shoulder as she kept moving her feet.

This complication again?

Icarus with boldness started picking up his feet, only to feel a hand roughly grab him by the arm. He turned around and to his surprise found that same bat girl. "Let go of me, you bimbo!"And with that said, he pulled away from the female and returned to hurrying after Amy.

Other times that Rouge had grown really fed up or upset, well... they couldn't possibly make up for how angry she'd became now. That smart-aleck of a butterfly really allowed that word to slip from his mouth.

She couldn't just sit still and not do anything about it, so Rouge prepared to charge after the fourteen-year old, but out of nowhere, Sonic grabbed her own arm, Knuckles grabbing the other.

"Boys, let me go! That little twerp needs a good kick in the head!"

"No need for that," Sonic insisted while trying to stay calm, " Amy knows how to take care of herself."

Next, Tails suggested, "On the other hand, we need to get inside our tents."

With that addressed, everyone hurried for their shelter as more and more rain was pouring down on them from the heavens.

Meanwhile, Storm and Jet were still in the bushes. They'd witnessed the entire scene of Amy running off and so forth; now they decided it was time for them to also hide from the rain.

"Boss, aren't you comin'?" asked Storm.

"No, but I have two things I want you to do. Firstly, find out more about what Amy said about the Chao Lobby, and return to the jungle once you've gathered up everything." For a reason Storm would never know, Jet lowered his voice while giving the second task. "... and don't tell Wave that you found me. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Storm saluted with his hand.

"Now go, so I can hurry and find a dry spot to sit in."

"Don't worry, boss! You can leave everything up ta' me!"

Jet was sure he could do this. So sure, yet still frustrated at what sort of person Storm was to say this, being that once the albatross took a step to move forward, he clumsily slipped on the wet grass then fell on his face.

The green bird could only slap his forehead in annoyance at this clumsy mishap.

* * *

The rain had been falling down harder than Sonic's look-alike thought. He knew the others wouldn't be heading towards the Chao Lobby where they could open its door, so it was more suitable for him to also find an area that would protect him from the freezing raindrops.

There was a tree that he came upon which carried a branch for him to sit on and bark to rest his back against. So Shadow leaped up towards it and sat like desired; a wonderful thing it was that the tree was so packed and thick of jungle leaves that no water seeped through its slits to wet him.

Little did the dark hedgehog know just who was after his tail. He was in their mind, flooding it the whole time they continued into the heart of the jungle.

"You came, but are you still upset with me about..." Amy thought worriedly as an old memory of her failed resurrection came to mind.

All of a sudden, the rose felt her whole self collide with giant leaves; leaves that appeared to be a gateway if Amy wanted to keep moving forward.

The more she studied these large plants, the more an idea developed inside of her head. It was presented in actuality when she ripped off both giant leaves, then looked for nearby tough sticks. The reason for the sticks were so that the leaves could stay propped up like real umbrellas.

Therefore, Amy had now created two umbrellas. It was just the tool that she and him could use when they returned to their friends. A tiny yet genuine smile found its way on her lips while thinking on this thoughtful action she'd performed.

"Decided ta' make the extra umbrella for me, did ya'?"

That voice... it couldn't have been...

Turning around and seeing him with his usual smirk only pierced her nerves more than just hearing his Irish accent.

As he reached for one of her newly-made umbrellas, Amy deliberately slapped his hand away and barked with a monstrous glare, "Don't touch that! I didn't make it for you."

So this was how she were going to treat him? Like a bother, when he only cared for her self-being, had set aside the matter of the rainy weather and chased after her, led her to this island in fact, and... had always been there for her.

For someone who he knew to be friendly, sweet, caring, loyal, honest, heroic, and hopeful, now... now he... wasn't sure if any of those qualities made up for her outrageous behavior. Her voice shattered him like a terrible singer's loud obnoxious voice breaking glass, she'd stomped on... his heart even.

Icarus wasn't scared to admit the broken-heart feeling that he was experiencing during these passing seconds. But he couldn't let her figure that out; she'd done just about enough by her actions.

Clenching both his fists and unable to control the gritting of his teeth, the butterfly poured out his feelings with, "I've had just about enough of this!" in a loud tone.

And if that weren't all of it, he took a firm grip of Amy's wrist as though he were going to lead her somewhere.

"Let go of me!"

"No! You're comin' back with me ta' the camp!"

"Think again!"

With all of her might, Amy stomped on Icarus's foot and ran off with the umbrellas while he were dealing with the harsh pain; the metal heels of her boots was not to be underestimated.

"If this is what love does, then..." Icarus lowered his head while not realizing how much his fists were shaking. "... then I don't wanna keep it!"

"... what did you just say...?"

The pink hedgehog turned around and looked over her shoulder. Amy wanted to be positive about what'd just been said. Either she were crazy, or Icarus really brought up that special four-letter word.

At least now Icarus could feel like he'd been given more authority over the situation. "You heard me!" the white male lifted his head and sent Amy a pair of fierce violet eyes, "I didn't come all the way out here just ta' be made into a fool!"

"Well no one asked you to come!"

Just when he felt like his heart been shattered, now it was being stepped on even more before the wind arrived to pick it up and sweep it off the ground.

His eyes widened out of sheer astonishment. This was so much more than Icarus could take. It was as though his entire body were freezing on its own.

In the beginning, he'd been excited to come along with Amy and her friends on this trip. The ride of getting to Chao Island had been successful, camp tents and food had been easy to manage with, but this... the respect that Amy wasn't giving him...

Amy noticed the butterfly's antennas drooping while his expression turned into that of very disrespected and hurt, but she simply went on with, "Now if you don't mind, I need to find Shadow."

"Amy!" Icarus outstretched his arm, but to no avail did the rose turn around; one of the only times he called the hedgehog by her real name, but that didn't seem to matter.

When she'd turned around and started off, Icarus never took his eyes off her. Amy would never know just how important she'd became to him. Quipped in that bright strawberry dress of hers... showing off her lovable personality with those emeralds called pupils... exerting the cute but powerful side a person never wanted to take for granted when her Piko Piko Hammer was summoned... carried a voice that could melt someone's heart like heat to chocolate; his heart in fact. All these things about Amy were something that Icarus had to see over time as he came to the touching realization.

To see her treat him harshly though... his eyes developed a blazing fire of their own. As of now, he didn't care that she'd ran off. Heck, she could find that 'Shadow' and do whatever it was she'd wanted to do with him

All of a sudden, something dwarfish and light-blue came into view. What occurred with Amy disappeared, and Icarus took in what was pacing past him. It was a chao, but his interest was piqued by the fact that this creature appeared to be a female. Purple eye shadow was applied to their face, they had on a miniature genie outfit and a lavender mask to cover their mouth.

Just to think if Amy witnessed this for herself.

A grin crept along Icarus's lips as he thought deeper into the new plan of his.


	6. Chapter 6

When Icarus thought about it, the entire situation was very simple to remedy. This feminine chao walking past him was the answer. Who was to say that Amy wouldn't be pleased to know that he'd found a chao when the island had been wiped of its infants?

The chao turned around as it'd felt someone standing behind her. She looked behind her and before she could speak was grabbed like a football. "Unhand me, you stranger! Just who are you anyway?"

"One a the good guys. That's all ya' need ta' know."

After that was said, Icarus started pacing towards the jungle's exit with an upset chao frowning up at him.

"Oh really? Then tell me, what's so good about this right here? You don't even appear to be a resident of this island."

Now she'd went and ignited his anger; taking place when the insect ceased his footsteps and balled up his free hand. "Look... it would do me a lot better if ya' just hushed up and let me take ya' ta' my friends. There's someone who I'm tryin' ta' reach, but they never hold their hand out for me ta' take. So, please, just... ohh, ya' know what I'm tryin' ta' say!" Icarus finished as he returned to walking.

For a reason the female chao wasn't sure, she could feel the sadness that emerged from this butterfly's heart. He wasn't an evil person at all, but someone who'd had their heart broken and took it very emotionally; it was to be expected, since males weren't so much the tough people they behaved like.

"Ah. So, just what exactly happened between you and this girl?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

And he had every right not to.

"Oh... well... I guess since now I'm part of whatever your plan is, know that you may call me Ms. Chao."

Few seconds passed, and Ms. Chao still didn't receive a response. She looked up at Icarus and grew curious to what'd happened between him and this 'girl' exactly.

* * *

Time slipped to a point where its possible hour didn't run through Shadow's mind. When the rain came to its end and the sun rose from the horizon, that would be when they started their trip to the Chao Lobby. And speaking of Sonic and his cohorts, one of them grabbed his attention as he'd looked down and noticed her first by her pink fur.

"Hm," escaped from the hedgehog's lips while he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Is there a reason why you've followed me all the way out here?"

"It's too cold for anyone to be out here. So I came to bring you this umbrella I made."

Shadow indeed studied one of the objects in her hand after she'd mentioned it.

Amy climbed up the tree after giving a reply to that, taking a seat closer to the end of the branch they were perched on; this itself had taken at least five minutes. Then while handing it to him she continued with a forced smile, "That way we can both walk back to the others."

To think she'd have to talk Shadow into coming back, after learning that one of her friends was in love with her; or so they'd admitted. She felt confused, angry, shocked, and somewhat worried all at the same time, but now wasn't the best time to be letting that ruin her day.

He took another look at what she was insisting he accept. "Sorry, but I have no need for that. As you can see, these leaves above my head are suiting me just fine."

Deep down, Amy couldn't help but wonder what the emotion in this response really was. Either he'd meant what he said, or was still upset with her from the resurrection. Either way, she couldn't let the situation stop her when she'd now caught up to him.

"Well, you can still catch a cold," Amy tried reasoning as she looked up at the branches.

"Must you always be this persistent?"

"Just how I am, I guess," the younger hedgehog let out a sweet giggle.

Out of nowhere, faint noises of thunder rumbled throughout the sky; meaning Amy should probably be on her way. And yet, she felt herself becoming attached and not wanting to depart from the lonesome Shadow so soon.

Therefore, she opened a new conversation. "I can't imagine what the Chao Kindergarten will be like once we enter the lobby."

"The lobby?"

"Yeah," Amy reached for her headband and pulled the Chao Key out from underneath it, "This key that you found will help us get there. Mister Chao explained to us the different places we can go to through the lobby itself."

Of course... this key having the ability to open a lobby could open more questions. How many rooms it could be connected with was very much a mystery, and Shadow would find its secrets, hopefully getting led up to the sole reason of why he was brought to this island to begin with.

"Hmm..." Amy entered deep thought, "Now that I think about it, what if there's more than just a Chao Kindergarten? Mister Chao would tell us if there were, right? Huh?"

The rose would've dwelt further on this new question of hers, except she noticed Shadow rise to his feet and throw a golden Chaos Spear at the leaves up above. Just when she'd thought of this to be strange and bizarre, a familiar looking albatross came collapsing from within it and onto the branch, making it wobble and causing Amy to grip onto it so she wouldn't fly off.

"Hmph," Shadow frowned as he was standing up, "Well if it isn't that bird again."

Having been knocked from out of the leaves left Storm so exposed, to a point where he couldn't formulate any words to give. He'd been given a simple task, but thanks to his clumsiness, his cover was blown.

"Storm?" Amy couldn't believe it.

Quickly, Storm motioned with hopping down from the branch and dart out of the area; however when he landed on his feet, another pair of feet had seemingly hopped in front of him. This Shadow was definitely a character not to be taken lightly.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't sense your presence?"

Being astounded by the hedgehog's surprise didn't save the albatross from being knocked to the ground and grabbed in a tight hold by his neck.

Shadow added with seriousness, "Answer a few questions and I'll let you off with a warning."

Instead of responding to this, Storm managed to push the Ultimate Life Form off him and regain his balance. His chest huffing up and down was enough to show his towered anger. Just who did Shadow think he was, trying to throw such a blunt threat at him like that?

"I don't have ta' listen ta' you!" Storm shook a clenched fist, but was immediately hit by a clean uppercut and sent to the muddy ground once more.

"I suggest you do, or else you'll suffer more than just my fist!"

"Stop it, both of you!" As Amy shouted this, she began stepping along the branch and towards the part of the tree's huge trunk, but lost her needed balance and fell towards the others, screaming with volume just as loud as the rolling thunder.

And just in the nick of time, Shadow caught in her in his arms, then gently set her down. Although, it was times like these Shadow wished Amy wasn't so into hanging with him; it hadn't been his responsibility to watch over her like a parent does with a child.

Yet, with her appreciative tone she'd spoke, "Thanks Shadow," managing to rub that bit of annoyance off of him and replace it with a smidge of ease.

Storm could've turned around and escaped from Shadow's view, but the hedgehog before albatross moved an inch asked, "Now, start by telling me why you were spying on us."

Escaping became more and more of the best option; except when Storm took a step to move, Amy walked up to him and interjected, "That's what I'd like to know," with special hammer gripped in hands. How would that honestly make him look though if a girl were able to command him on what to do?

So he took another step to get his point across that he wasn't some pushover. That, however, only brought him a painful whack to his head from the Piko Piko Hammer at the same time thunder roared.

Shadow found himself leaning against a nearby trees with folded arms, as Amy and Storm stood in the rain holding a conversation. Amy held her leaf umbrella over her head while holding her spare one, but Storm had to obtain a large plant to cover himself, thanks to his giant body.

The raindrops pattered nonstop on their green shelters, and dripped on the ends of them and falling to the ground.

Shadow's pair of dark red eyes somehow found themselves placed on Amy's free umbrella. If it hadn't been for him, then she would have willingly given it to Storm for his use. This seemed like the most logical explanation... but no, it hadn't been of his interest to accept it from her, so why did he care?

"Hmph," this tiny sound came from him as he turned his face to look away from the rose.

"I get it now!" Amy replied to Storm in an assured tone, grabbing Shadow's attention, "Well, you can't tell Jet that this island's treasure is better than gold or rubies."

"It is?" Storm grew extremely curious.

"Yeah!" a smile flashed on Amy's face.

"Well, what is it?"

"The chao."

Nothing about this word managed to spark an equal response from Storm. He'd learned about those blue creatures from Wave, but still didn't understand how they were better than actual treasure.

Shadow arched his eyebrow at this answer of Amy's as he'd also need more of an explanation.

Blinking with confusion, Storm then placed a hand to his chin and asked, "But how can that be? They're just a bunch a babies, right?"

"They do start out small, but after a while, you can help them grow up to be great adults!" Truly the pink girl was enthusiastic and pleased about starting this adventure of raising chao by her the joyful tone in her voice and twinkle in her eyes.

Shadow and Storm waited for her to continue with her words.

"They're like us if you think about it..." before finishing, Amy clasped her hands together and lowered her voice to a calmer tone. It was as if to her, the situation was deeper than the others thought it to be. "We want someone to care about and help us make it through each day without feeling lonely."

In the end, Storm still hadn't exactly grasped what she was saying. He'd never heard anyone, or Amy for that matter say something in such a deep and intelligent manner.

"I'm sure if someone stood in the same room with a group of chao, they would feel happy. The smiles on their faces just make you want to hug them," Amy gave a huge smile a she pretended to be hugging one of those precious chao angels.

"Uhhh..." Storm began rubbing the back of his head.

"There you are!"

While Shadow only turned to the source of this voice, Amy and Storm shifted their faces to find Wave approaching them.

Storm could feel trouble coming his way, at a very close rate. His reason for being outside would be questioned, no doubt about it.

"Looks like I've found Pink too."

After Wave confirmed this, she noticed Shadow out of the corner of her eye, but paid him no greeting.

Lighting could be heard striking seconds later.

Wave broke the silence with, "Shorty and the others want you to hurry back so we can get an early start for tomorrow."

"Alright. Just give me another minute or two," Amy assured the swallow.

Why she said that, Wave couldn't help but wonder, but it was none of her business.

As she turned around and started pacing away,Storm decided to follow her; he'd failed his mission, and whether he liked it not, the gray bird would have to owe purple bird an explanation on why he left to begin with.

Before Shadow realized, Amy was now coming up to him, and meant for him to take one of those same umbrellas of hers. She gave him time to make up his mind and take it into his glove, but after so long... "What are you waiting for? Take it."

"Like I've said once before, I have no need for that jungle leaf. I'd like you to take me to this 'Chao Lobby' you keep talking about."

"You really wanna go?"

Shadow ignored Amy's astonished reaction. "It may hold the answers I need to find out why I've been sent here."

"Y-yeah... sounds like a good plan to me," Amy replied with a nervous chuckle then yawned, "Well, you could spend the night with us."

"No thanks. I prefer to stay up there where the leaves are."

* * *

Sonic and the others were very pleased to know that there was another chao still alive. They called Wave and the others from her campsite to inform them of this, and received just the same reaction.

Mr. and Dr. Chao were the most surprised to know that Ms. Chao had survived, but she explained to them how she managed.

Of course, Icarus was thanked greatly for rescuing her, and he accepted their words, even from 'Blue boy'; an abnormal thing that was.

And now, as the rain hadn't died while nighttime had arrived, Tails was greeted by Icarus as the butterfly entered his tent, and was asked if they could talk. It was the first time that something like this ever took place though.

"I know this visit is kinda' a surprise... but it can't be held back for any longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm goin' back ta' Station Square, so I can watch over Kamimi's shop."

"Really? But why?"

Even if Icarus wasn't liked so much by everyone, Tails regardless held a general care for the older boy.

Awaiting his response, he only received a chuckle, followed by, "If you were six years older, than ya' would understand perfectly well what I mean!"

"Well..." Tails had trouble finding the correct words to give. "You do have a good point there."

"You're a very smart kid for your age though."

"Thanks, Icarus. And thanks also for leading us here."

To think one of Amy's friends were really this kind.

"Oh... well, don't mention it." Icarus then rose to his feet. "I'll be on my way then."

"Wait!" Tails raised his voice in hopes that Icarus wouldn't leave, and it just managed to work.

Icarus turned around quietly to see what the twin-tailed fox had to say.

"Please, just hear me out... I know the others don't treat you that well, but it's not about that. It's about the chao, and they need our help. One person being gone can make a huge difference, so we should put all of our differences aside and focus on returning this island to the way it was before."

With everything Tails had explained, did Icarus bother taking those words to mind? The only thing he did react with was removing his blue scarf from around his neck and handing it to Tails, leaving confusion all over the fox's face.

"Huh?" Tails acted with sheer puzzlement.

When looking at his face, Tails saw a smile there that he never believed would ever appear there. Not one of Icarus's arrogant smirks or teasing grins, but... a warm smile.

"Let whichever chao you adopt wear this."

And like that, he turned around to head for the watery outside. This couldn't have have been the way things between them were supposed to end. The gang had only been on Chao Island since yesterday and already one of their comrades was deciding to leave. No... Tails wouldn't just let this take place.

"Icarus!"

After setting down Icarus's scarf, he got outside and watched Icarus stand in the mere rain, then begin to transform into his insect form.

Sonic and others happened to hear this scene and peeked outside through the slits of their tents.

"Tails and Icarus?" Sonic thought out loud while noticing Icarus take off.

"Icarus, don't go! I guarantee you that everything will improve soon!" But to no avail did Icarus stop fluttering his wings to take heed of Tails's words.

While he was ascending through the raindrops beating down on him, Tails readied himself to spin his tails and also take off, but a voice beckoning, "Tails, wait a sec'!"

It was none other than Sonic who'd advised this.

Immediately Tails stopped what he was doing and looked over at his blue friend, to see him shielding his face like an umbrella with his hands and walking towards him.

"Just why did Icarus leave anyway?"

All of Sonic and Tails's friends still spied on them through their tents, listening to every word.

"Well..." Tails looked away as he was afraid to answer the truth.

Sonic kept his same concerned expression, not giving a care about how much rain was pouring into his fur.

"... it had something to do with how we all get along."

"How we all get along?" At least now Sonic had gained a clearer idea of what his little buddy was talking about. "Tails," the hedgehog made a sigh, "Sorry if I step on your toes about this, but Icarus wasn't exactly what you could call 'easy to get to know'."

"I know that, but leaving isn't the solution! He was such a big help of leading us here, so who knows what it'll be like without him now that we've learned where we have to go?"

The fact that Tails was becoming sympathetic for Icarus was no doubt. Sonic wasn't a jerk to not admit it, but still he decided to look at a brighter side of the situation; but Tails's heart of gold was something he liked very much about the little guy.

A confident smirk found it's way on Sonic's face. "Tails, you do realize how much help we have already, right? There Ames, Knuckles, Cream, Big, Cheese, Wave, Storm, Mister and Doctor Chao. And we can't forget Ms. Chao who just came. Then we still have a shot at asking Shadow for help, so we've got it under control. No worries!" The blue male sent his best friend a thumbs up, managing to lift a tiny smile on his white muzzle.

"Heh. I guess you're right, Sonic. It's just that I..."

"Yeah, I know. But there's no time to be stuck on whatever his issues are. In no time, he'll be back here feelin' good as new! As for us, we've got an island to save, right buddy?"

"Right!"

As a wider smile beamed on Tails's face, him and Sonic didn't realize just how long they were standing in the rain, staring at each other with so much hope and confidence showing through their expressions.

Their companions kept watching from inside each of their shelters at this touching moment of brotherly friendship.


	7. Chapter 7

During the time that the blazing sun actually rises from the deep horizon, Sonic and his friends were still sound asleep in each of their designated tents. They were all anxious and couldn't wait for the trip that were scheduled for today; but Wave... she was what could said as ecstatic. Somehow, she'd woken up about two hours earlier than everyone else, and was now standing a few feet away from her tent, staring at nothing but the sun.

It was a very beautiful thing to gaze at, with its warm colors and vibrant shades.

While the swallow was dressed in her usual white top and pants with purple flames, the day had somehow advised her to wear her yellow shades over her eyes and not on her head; Wave knew for a fact that she wouldn't like having to shield her eyes from however hot the sun would be as the day progressed.

"Today's the day..." After the young woman said this, she looked away from what was a gorgeous landscape and to the ground. "It'd be nice if Jet could show up for a change."

Moments after that, a recognizable voice suddenly entered the atmosphere. "Viewing the morning sun?"

Wave knew that voice only belonged to Mr. Chao. She turned around and realized that he'd approached her, and seemed curious as to why she were outside exactly.

"You could say that. Why are you up so early?" Wave changed the subject.

"Because last night, Doctor Chao and I decided to go to sleep earlier than usual. We couldn't wait for this day to come." After giving this response, Mr. Chao turned his eyes to Wave. "Which reminds me, where is your green friend?"

The mustached chao knew very well that Jet choking Dr. Chao was a disrespectful way to behave, but still he'd seemed to forgiven the Babylon Rogue. Wave was glad to see this happening, but didn't expect the topic to be aroused.

"Oh... he'll be back soon."

* * *

About an hour later, the rest of Wave's friends finally woke up, and including her and Mr. Chao were served what had to be the best breakfast on the planet; bacon, toast, but most of all, strawberry pancakes.

Sonic savored every bite he were still on his first pancake. After taking another, he held fork in hand and proclaimed, "Now these are what I call strawberry pancakes!"

Hearing this comment of his best friend's, Tails had developed a statement of his own to give about these delectable pancakes. "I can taste strawberry in every bite!"

"Those were really yummy!" commented Big as he'd finished his last bite.

"Cheese says he enjoyed them too!" Cream gave this sort of input, while her pet added, "Chao!"

"Each bite is like a little piece of heaven!" exclaimed Ms. Chao.

Regardless, everyone had pleasant expressions or words to give about these special pancakes.

Knuckles wasn't expected to say anything, but he couldn't hold back what were the truth. "I have to admit, " the echidna looked down at his last pancake after swallowing his last bite, "These taste good enough to be served at a resturant." But his lips didn't stop there. Next, Knuckles placed a teasing smirk on his face while starting to tell Sonic something. "Don't you think Amy would make a great housewife someday?"

And those words had done their job. Sonic was blushing to a point where tomatoes and their brightness couldn't compete with the hue on his muzzle. "Uhh... well..." the hedgehog began rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't think Amy made these pancakes, Mr. Knuckles," Cream interjected with her soft voice.

"Huh? Then who did?" Knuckles's eyes widened with utter surprise.

"She's standing behind you."

There was only one person who had a feminine and seductive voice like that. And yet, it was the person who Knuckles least expected.

"Rouge? You made these?" the echidna asked with a tone of disbelief.

"Well, Pinky couldn't have made them. She woke me up so early this morning and asked that I do it while she go and look for Shadow."

"And you let her go alone?" Sonic's query somehow hushed everyone, because of its obvious concerned tone. He'd made the situation seem like Amy were going off to some dangerous area instead of a peaceful rain forest.

Rouge could see the most just how worried the blue hedgehog was, but she simply moved onto giving her answer. "She seemed pretty persistent. Even if I would've tried to go with her, she wouldn't have listened because she left in such a hurry." Before a pause after the bat's sentence could even commence, Sonic set his empty plate down and zipped super sonic fast towards the jungle, leaving her to add, "And now he's hurried off," while placing a hand on her hip, "Boy, don't they just wanna make you put yourself in their business?"

"Umm, no. But I'm sure that's never a problem for you," Knuckles spoke with all honesty.

Tails and the other friends who remained quiet glanced at this irritated echidna, then at Rouge. The adult chao were only new to what was going to happen next; which was why they didn't understand what'd caused them to try pleading with Rouge and Knuckles to just hush themselves at that moment.

While Cream protectively shielded Cheese's eyes so he wouldn't actually witness the argument, Big's long ears drooped as a sign that things weren't going to stay pleasant. In his mind, the purple feline thought, Uh oh!"

"Hmph! You have your nerve, sitting here making jokes about someone else's girlfriend!" Rouge crossed her arms and gave a huge frown.

"Girlfriend?" Knuckles became confused, "How would you know if they're dating or not?"

"I see the way he acts to her smiles and giggles. It's written all over his face!"

"Well think whatever you want, batgirl."

And with that, Knuckles finished the last of his breakfast, then placed his dishes inside a plastic container that Amy decided everyone could dump their dishes into.

The red echidna went on to add, "I don't have time to get in other people's business," But right after that, Wave cut in with, "I'd say none of us have time. Instead of bickering at each other, let's get prepared for the trip before Sonic and Pink come back."

* * *

Walking into the jungle to get her friend had turned out to have more than Amy figured. While the pink hedgehog was on her way, she happened to notice a beautiful exotic flower, looking as if it'd just budded, along with multiple others surrounding it.

So Amy moved to stand on the tips of her toes in order to reach this main flower and grab it, but a familiar deep voice commanded, "Stop."

"Shadow!" Amy turned around with utter surprise and relief at the same time. She then turned her sights back to the flower. Nothing about it seemed harmful or evil, so why she'd been told to not pick it, Amy didn't have a clue. "How come you told me to stop just now?"

"That flower you were about to pull contains sweet nectar. If any bees were to notice you stealing their food, then they would get upset and try stinging you."

As the male hedgehog explained this, a bee suddenly came into view and like so, approached the same flower and began to eat some of its delicious nectar.

When Amy thought about it, watching it take place was kind of interesting. Getting bee bites was least of her wants. "Well, I'm glad you warned me. I wouldn't want to make this bee angry," the rose made a sweet grin.

"I think it's time we head for the Chao Lobby."

"Right! That's why I came to get you."

Sounds of leaves rustling could soon be heard. Both Shadow and Amy perked their ears at this, and looked left to see their only blue friend approached them; Amy being more surprised than Shadow as she rushed towards and hugged Sonic tightly.

"Sonic? You came to look for me?" Amy kept her embrace while her smiled glowed, "I just came out here to look for Shadow."

"Yeah, well you can let go of me then," Sonic motioned the pink girl to release her squeezing grip from him. Then he looked over at Shadow and asked, "So, you're ready to go with us, Shads?"

"I've been ready to go this whole time." Being given that ridiculous nickname the faker had concocted made their short conversation only more annoying. He knew that Shadow never took a liking to it.

Amy took a hold of both male hedgehog's arms and declared happily, "Then let's get a move on!"

Of course she was anxious. Sonic plastered a grin onto his face because he realized this, but Shadow didn't feel the same emotions at they had. How she carried the boldness to just grab his arm and take him along with her like a lost puppy, he didn't know. So a hint of irritation appeared on his face while they made their way out of the thick jungle.

* * *

By this time, the sun had rose higher into the sky while its background developed a light shade of blue with its marshmallow clouds to add life.

Everyone including Amy, Sonic, and Shadow were now walking towards their destination, walking alongside each other; Amy next to the adult chao and all of her original friends except for Knuckles and Rouge who stayed behind them. Meanwhile Wave and Storm walked somewhat near the bat and echidna.

In the midst of this, Rouge couldn't understand... why Shadow was walking next to Pinky. Never before had this happened, nor were the hedgehogs ever this close when it came to mutuality.

She narrowed her eyes when studying Amy specifically. They seemed to be doing nothing except for sharing a conversation, as Amy's lips flapped the most.

So in her mind, Rouge couldn't help but think, "Since when are they more friendlier?"

After half an hour, the gang reached a dark cave which was said to lead to the Chao Lobby. On the inside, a pair of blue double doors could be seen, with golden linings trimming it.

Mister Chao was very happy indeed to present this to his friends. He turned to face Amy as he'd prepared words to give. "Amy, if you would do the honor of opening the double door?"

"Gladly." With a smile sweet enough to beat sugar, the rose reached for the key sitting underneath her headband, then stared down at it as it sat gripped in her hand. This key was more than anyone could say it were. With this key, they would restore this island to the way it originally was. Lives would be led upright, and sorrows would be pushed into the darkest corners possible.

As not epic as this situation might've seemed, Amy still felt like a hero.

She slowly moved the device towards its keyhole, stuck it inside and turned it, opening a portal that contained bright swirls of purple, cyan, and white.

Everyone was prepared to step into this thing, no matter if it came in different colors; it looked like a real portal to them.

"We're about to finally enter the Chao Lobby..." Amy had to remind herself about this, as she was just... so overwhelmed, and felt very prepared. This moment was happening 'now', waiting for them to catch up with it. "Just yesterday, we were looking for the key. Well watch out, Chao Lobby!" she clenched her fist, "Because my friends and I are coming in!"

She made this declaration, and was the first to step inside. Everyone else stepped in after, one at a time.

A dark butterfly managed to tag along for the ride, right before both doors automatically closed.

An unknown force was pulling in the insect along with the others with a lot of strength. At least everyone yelled as they were being pulled deeper and deeper, except for Shadow. He was ready for anything that this new found purpose of his was going to bring.

The mixtures of purple and white swirled into darkness with stars poured onto it.

Amy's arm was linked with Sonic's even after their teleportation had finished. So no longer feeling any movement, she opened her eyes to see where they'd ended up.

This place they were in… it was… actually extraordinary. They were encased by gold-trimmed glass, but could still gaze upon this glittered scenery.

She studied her surroundings along with the others, and a wide grin became the largest feature on her face.

"This place is so pretty!" the rose quickly let go of Sonic and started towards the nearest wall to have a closer look; the thousands of stars grew bigger, and that was something Amy were fine with.

Each star had just enough power to dazzle and never bore Amy, or her companions for that matter. Everyone held a different reason for becoming intrigued or impressed by this starry background; especially Shadow. He wasn't sure how or where, but… he'd viewed a scene like this before.

He became so entranced that voices of his friends were blocked out. He didn't have a clue as to what could've been coming out of their mouths. The only ones talking to him now were these balls of hot air.

"These stars… I feel like I've seen them somewhere before, but I-"

"Shadow?"

The Ultimate Life Form could no longer ponder on this mystery as Amy interrupted those thoughts. Slowly but in a prompt manner, he turned around to face her, and watched her part her lips.

"We're about to head for the Chao Kindergarten."

* * *

How the Chao Kindergarten looked and stood out surprised almost everyone, as two beautiful crafted Chao fountains were propped on each side of the entrance and water gracefully flowed out of it. The clouds carried more fluffiness than those in Chao Island, blue birds chirped their peaceful tunes, frogs hopped across lily pads, and the vegetation of trees and fields appeared very healthy, as if someone took the required time to water them. But most of all… the kindergarten itself was the size of what could be a junior high school. Why this was the case, no one knew.

"So this is the kindergarten?" Knuckles asked with somewhat disbelief, "It looks more like a middle school."

"Well, before the hurricane, we had enrolled over two thousand students," explained Mister Chao.

Rouge couldn't help but react to this statement. "Two thousand? It must've been so tiring to keep all of them in check!"

"It appears that way, but there were many more adult Chao on our school's staff board. But as you know, the hurricane wiped them out."

"So we have no choice but to teach them ourselves," Wave assumed with a calm tone.

What had she just said?

"Yes, that's the only choice you would all have."

"Hey, nobody told me that teaching was part of raising them!" Knuckles inserted his complaint.

"Well we shouldn't have to. What does it mean if they don't learn anything at the same time?" Rouge placed a hand to her hip.

"And besides, Knuckles," Sonic placed a hand on the echidna's shoulder, "It's at your will of what you wanna teach them."

The Emerald Guardian's shoulders lost their tenseness while he sighed. "Well… I guess you have a good point there."

"Then it's settled!" Amy interjected with a cheerful shout, "Mr. Chao, Dr. Chao, and Ms. Chao... would you be so kind as to lead us inside?"

"It'd be our honor!"

Without hesitation, the Chao adults led their newly-found cohorts towards their building, full of anticipation and excitement; so distracted in truth that a gust of wind brushed against the grass they once stood on when their backs were turned.

The tour of the entire school had taken its time, with what seemed like endless hallways, classrooms, cafeteria, doctor's office, principal's office, and of course Ms. Chao's fortune telling room.

The female Chao discussed and said that she has the ability to read fortunes, except she was more often seen for helping Chao name themselves. Amy took a further liking to Ms. Chao, and opened a conversation about fortune telling shops, mentioning that she were working at one and still learning the basics.

Doctor Chao decided to enter his office and go through his file cabinets to get rid of old documents and wipe the dust off his desk and window sills.

It was depressing to throw away documents of all the Chao who'd passed away. But he managed to grow a smile on his lips. The Chao very well knew that there was nothing to worry about anymore, now that Amy and her friends were here and would help repopulate their race.

Out of nowhere, when he was throwing more papers into his wired wastebasket, a polite knock came from the door.

"Come in."

To the doctor's surprise, Sonic and Wave walked in with boxes in their arms that were about half their sizes. The tops of each one appeared to be sealed with clear tape.

"Hey, Doc," Sonic gave a bright smile, "Mind if Wave and I give you these? They have medicine and tools inside, whenever you need em'."

"Huh?" He obviously didn't know how to respond to this. "You both brought all of that, just for the school's use?"

"Yeah! You could say a little friend of ours told us to do so. Heh heh."

"Ohh, thank you both so much!"

Hedgehog and bird were motioned to set down the boxes in the far corner next to the shelf of countless medical books.

Truly, Dr. Chao couldn't estimate how thankful he was for their donations. Now, when Chao were ill they could be helped right away, and things that broke or tore down anywhere in the school could be rebuilt. The whole situation was like a dream come true.

"Anytime, Doc."

Wave found herself pacing down the long hallway with her friend's rival beside her.

The swallow didn't understand why she was still feeling down. She'd accomplished the task given to her; the mission that she declared would be done if her friends had to accompany her. All of that sense of relief that was meant to replace her beak with a grin didn't show up for some reason.

Like how the only sounds in the room were their clicking footsteps, she also wasn't paying attention to how he'd shifted his emerald eyes towards her.

"For all I know, that small light could've visited Wave and told her to bring something too," Sonic thought to himself.

In the weirdest way possible, the exact idea lingered in her mind. "There's a possibility."

Silence drifted away as Sonic looked at her yet again, this time sending a friendly grin.

"What are you staring at?"

Of course Sonic knew where this conversation would go. "You look like you wanna say something."

"No, not really."

"You know, I didn't think you and Storm would've ever shown up. But what happened to Jet?" Sonic queried as they kept moving their feet.

"Wherever he is, it's not for you to know."

These words alone slapped Sonic in face, as if he were being scolded for trying to talk. He hadn't been prepared for a harsh remark like this. "Did I hit a nerve or what?" the hedgehog worriedly thought to himself.

At this point, the best thing seemed to be laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. So that was just what his gloved palm reached for, but didn't stay for long as she slapped it away like a bothersome housefly.

"I didn't say you could put your hand on me!" The bird started walking faster. "And I don't need any of your sympathy!"

Only the sound of Wave's footsteps could be heard as she was steadily making her way towards the door leading to the main hall. As for Sonic though… his feet became frozen by invisible blocks of ice, while his face developed speechlessness and kept it there for the next passing moments.

* * *

"Oh, hey Wave. Right now we're - hey, didn't Sonic help you deliver some boxes to Dr. Chao's office?" Tails asked as he looked around the room for sight of his best friend.

"They're still talking, and I didn't feel like waiting."

This was where she'd leave the discussion, even if Shorty were perplexed by it.

As she'd entered, Wave realized that an orange egg had been sitting in Tails's arms. His fur didn't carry the same shade, but it was close.

"So an orange egg is your choice?"

"I wasn't really sure on how to go about choosing, so I decided to take Amy's advice and follow color coordination."

"You can never go wrong with matching your Chao!" Amy's voice entered the conversation, "So that means you could get a purple egg, Wave."

"I had something else in mind."

Wave walked up to janitor's closet and knocked on its metal door. Dr. Chao had explained that this was where eggs plus other items could be purchased. But in the meantime, everyone was more focused on obtaining their own Chao.

So while everyone stood around while holding their colored eggs, Wave knocked on the metal closet and waited for a voice to speak up.

"Oh, hey. Do you wanna have a Chao egg too?" the Chao janitor asked.

"Yeah, you think you have anything in green?"

While Wave's companions stood in deep wonder of her decision, the atmosphere was mute; though sounds of tiny footsteps could be heard through the holes in the closet.

Her companions each took turns staring at her with deep curiosity, but she didn't let it faze her. Everyone had the freedom to choose what color Chao they'd want to raise.

It wasn't until seconds later the Chao janitor spoke yet again. "I found the egg you asked for. And luckily it was the last green in stock!"

Without further ado, the doors to the closet opened, and a pair of bluish hands held the green egg for Wave to take. She didn't waste any time in doing this, and didn't say a word after the janitor closed his doors.

"Green? What made her choose that color?" Tails placed a hand to his chin.

The twin-tailed fox was stumped by this, but Rouge wasn't stupid. But instead of blurting out her formulated accusation, she faced Shadow and prepared to ask him something.

"What color egg are you going to get, Shadow?"

"I won't be getting any of them."

"But you must, Mr. Shadow! You'll feel happy if you have a Chao and help it grow up," interjected Cream.

"She's right," Big added his point, "Everybody has a right ta' be happy."

What these two said just now sounded like pleadings to him, but Amy came to mind… and everything changed; she'd made an explanation about how valuable Chao were, but also that anyone could feel joy if they just stood in their presences. It didn't matter about where a person came from, or if they were meeting the tiny blue creatures for the first time.

Then for some reason, the voice of a young girl besides Amy ran through his mind bank, seeming to be about making others besides himself happy.

These ideas found a way to stay intact inside Shadow's brain, even though he was growing puzzled. Then the hedgehog began to dwell more on Amy herself, but scanned the room and muttered, "She's disappeared."

"Hey, where did Amy go?" Cream finally came to her senses.

"I think she said something about going to Dr. Chao's office to give Sonic his egg," answered Tails.

* * *

This anticipated moment was an experience that Amy knew would please her blue hero.

She strolled down the tiled floor with her pink egg and Sonic's in one arm each. The girl was certain he would love his egg once he laid his eyes on it, and thank her greatly for being so sweet.

"I hope Sonic likes his egg." She gazed down at it as its surface glistened in the ceiling lights. "Not only is it blue, but it has a coat with sparkles! Sonic!"

She eventually noticed the dreamy boy and smiled until it hurt her cheeks; that was all she knew to do as he'd noticed and was coming her way.

Why she was holding two eggs instead of one, he didn't know. She wouldn't decide to take care of more than Chao, would she?

"Hey! For a second there, I almost didn't see you. Nice eggs by the way."

Her cheeks became stained with red and it couldn't be helped. "T-the blue egg here is actually for you."

"… Oh…" Sonic placed his arm behind his head in a nervous manner, "You really mean that?"

"Yeah!"

Sonic opened his arms to take the special object from her giving hands. He knew very well he still needed to choose one since he first delivered the medicine to Doctor Chao's office, but what Amy was doing turned out to be sw—

"Well, thanks. I love it."

Amy clasped her hands after seeing the idea of being thoughtful worked.

No… even if the teenager wanted, he couldn't admit to things like that five-letter word. It just felt weird to behave more passionate and emotional to Amy, especially when she always tried following him.

Sonic knew for a fact that this shiny blue egg was such an awesome gift, but he wasn't sure if he could share his emotions with her.

One way or another, this feeling couldn't stay. Some kind of disruption as bad as it sounded needed to take place… something along the lines of…

"Amy!"

And a familiar rabbit had been the one to grant Sonic his wish.

"Huh?" Amy spun around and found her best friend approaching her with a orange egg bundled in her tiny arms and Cheese hovering next to her.

"Everyone is ready to go back to the campsite because Mister Chao has a demonstration to show us."

"Okay! Well, let's go, Sonic. We don't want to keep them waiting."

Sonic motioned to walk beside Amy while Cream stayed in front. When he looked over at her, the hedgehog could mention one thing besides the awkward feeling she'd caused him to develop: raising Chao seemed like it would turn her into the happiest girl in the world, and she'd want to share that harmony with each and every person around her. It started with him as a smile came to his peach muzzle.

* * *

In the midst of the campsite, Amy and the others stood in what appeared to be a circle with eggs in their grips, while only Mr. Chao remained in the middle. He was holding a seed the size of a marble in one hand.

By the expression on his face, it could be told that he was glad to make this presentation.

"My friends, what you see before you is a seed that can produce fruit. Because of the minerals it carries, its very bountiful, nutritious, and delicious for your Chao to eat. On a side note…" the expert cleared his throat, "It never shrivels up or slows down in its production."

Never in Shadow's life had he heard of or took a look upon something like this seed. According to what this Chao said, it was ageless like him. A discovery like this was something that the Ultimate Life Form's interest piqued about.

"Did you say it never shrivels up? That's amazing!" Tails thought out loud, "The thought of that never came to mind."

"I have to say, hearing that would make the mushrooms on my island like kids! As far as I know, they've been around for around three millenniums," Knuckles folded his arms.

Rouge figured that this time was an opportunity. "Just how do you know how old the mushrooms on your island are?"

"If you must know, I got a chance to learn Angel Island's history," Knuckles remarked with a bothered tone.

She did nothing but shrugged her shoulders. "Good enough for me."

"Mother would be happy if she knew about this seed, don't you think so, Cheese?" Cream smiled at her pal.

"Chao!"

"I think Froggy likes the idea too," Big shifted his giant yellow eyes towards his green amphibian.

With this information given about how Chao would receive their food, Angel Island ran through its resident's mind. He'd felt that the mushrooms and leaves that were born there could live forever, but this seed in Doctor Chao's hands proved that to be false.

How the island would be if it had these miraculous seeds was something Knuckles could only imagine.

"You know what?" Amy spoke aloud, "This gives me an idea! Why don't we throw a picnic after we get situated with hatching our eggs and planting the seeds? It can be like a Chao party!"

"Yeah, a party sounds really great, Amy!" added Cream.

"I'm with Cream on that one!" Sonic affirmed.

"Do you have any idea of what kind of food we'll be having for this party?" Rouge interjected.

"Already taken care of," Amy folded her arms and closed her eyes in a confident manner, "While I was packing, I made sure to bring items for nachos and drinks."

"Oh? Well great then. I can't wait to see how it goes."

In the midst of this planned activity, a nervous expression found its way on Tails's face. "Uhh, guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think my Chao's ready to come out."

And so Sonic's egg began rumbling also. "You're not the only one, bro'. Mine is just asking to crack open!"

But it didn't stop there; eggs in the hands of everyone else joined in the happening.

Shadow had nothing to do but watch and witness the prologues to these new births. He was advised that he should also have the same experience, but first watching the creatures hatch wasn't interesting enough.

"It might be a good time to set them down," Dr. Chao suggested, watching his friends do as he'd said.

Anxiety ran through the minds of every future Chao parent as more and more of the eggshells cracked.

In only another ten seconds, their adoptive babies would hop out with smiles… faces so adorable and genuine because they would finally have guardians to be loved and raised by.

Amy could already sense that things with her Chao would be great. A factor that helped to support this idea aroused as the top of her Chao's egg was moved and her Chao popped out like a jack-in-the-box. Just like her hair, it came in a shade of lovable pink, along with her sweet grin and dazzling eyes.

"Awww, they all look so cute!" the hedgehog looked down at her Chao then picked her up ,then rubbed her peach muzzle against the infant's.

Everyone else maybe didn't rub their faces against their Chaos', but it was a fact that they appeared excited and overwhelmed at the same time.

Knuckles couldn't deny the sense of responsibility he was feeling. By the echidna's expression, he looked startled of how the Chao wanted to be held and smile at him nonstop, but maybe this was how they showed their care. And besides, for tiny creatures, they were sort of 'cute'.

After taking a look at her friends, Amy noticed the adult Chao watching them, but she found Shadow in a different light. It wasn't that he became invisible, but he seemed unfitting to be in the midst of them. He hadn't obtained a Chao, or been eager about this trip to begin with. He were now just eyeing each person, wondering how it was that Chao could wake up happy, and how much joy it brought their owners to see their faces. Could this specifically have been what Amy and Cream meant by discovering happiness?

"Hey, how come you never got an egg?" Amy's voice arose as she walked up to the darker hedgehog.

Looking away, he stated in a flat tone, "I never intended to get one."

"You can't be serious. Look how happy everyone else is! Better yet, hold mine for a few minutes."

She was bold about handing her precious gift to the Ultimate Life Form, who already didn't have any participation to show except that he followed them.

She deliberately extended her pink baby for Shadow to take with his gloved hands.

"Even though she's just hatched, she's really sweet."

"No."

"Come on, just for a—"

"No!"

Everyone's lips froze shut as this harsh remark had silenced them.

And being the most hurt by this, Amy's Chao began to whimper, leading up to crying and shaking her fists. Then as if it were the thing to do, everyone else's Chao joined in the whining.

She wanted and was prepared to scold Shadow for his disrespectful remark, but the minute she looked at him, the hedgehog turned around and zipped away in a flash.

Not so much as an apology and everyone should've seen this coming.

Deep down, Sonic and Knuckles felt the most like finding Shadow and criticizing him for his rude outburst. It was something they absolutely weren't expecting and didn't need when their blessed Chao had just come into the world.

Amy didn't deserve to be treated like that.

Lurking somewhere inside of Shadow, that guilt would visit him soon, Knuckles just knew it.

In the meantime, Amy asked if she and her Chao could be left alone in their tent.

Away from the camp area and landing to perch on a bench was a unique ebony butterfly; and who better to notice it than Rouge with her keen sensing abilities.

It didn't move as the bat continued staring at it, but seconds later, fluttered its wings and went about its business.

"Does this mean we're still going to have the Chao party?" Cream asked with a glum tone.

Rouge answered this by turning to face the precious child and fixate a gentle smile on her lips. "Sure we will, sweetie."

Mr. Chao could speak for himself when he knew that this awkward silence had lasted for too long. So the male figure cleared his throat. "So why don't we move onto the next step of raising Chao?"

"The next step?" Big asked.

"Naming your Chao."

Wave slapped herself in the face after seeing she'd almost forgotten about this part. "Oh yeah, duh! Of course that's the next step."

The swallow looked down at her Chao whom she was still holding in her hands; for now he was giving her a puzzled expression. "So just what am I gonna name you?"

* * *

For the next few hours, while making dinner and washing dishes, Shadow remained trapped inside her mind. Amy could recall just how much anger had been brought forth through his declination earlier. His sharp white fangs were even introduced, helping to make his whole appearance more demonic.

She knew he wasn't like that in the least, so what could it have been that set off his emotions like a timed bomb?

As she lay under her comforter with her Chao she'd named Rosey, a worrisome sigh escaped her lips as the response to the entire situation.

* * *

The jungle's scent was as tropical and fresh as ever. Many bugs couldn't be seen flying around, but these ideas of his surroundings weren't of his concern right now.

All he knew was that she'd persisted with offering that pink baby for him to hold. He couldn't deny its innocence or purity, but… in actuality; those traits were why he didn't want to have any contact with it.

It would start off with holding someone like Rosey, getting to know them, learning about their self. Then next would be the part where he steadily developed a close relationship. And after that? They'd become 'very well' acquainted with Death.

No one else besides Maria deserved to go through all of that pain and suffering, just like Shadow didn't deserve to witness it first hand. So something as tiny as a Chao wouldn't change his opinions or choices.

And her attempts to make him think otherwise wouldn't mean anything. In fact, all the rose had done was Shadow and cause him to reveal his piercing fangs.

"You again!" Shadow's ears perked up as this voice came up. He'd recognized it anywhere.

The dark male looked for a bush to hide behind and use its thick leaves to peek through at the butterfly. But Rouge's appearance surprised him. Knowing the treasure hunter, she probably met Icarus to make a deal where she would inherit one of the Chaos Emeralds.

"Don't cha' have anything better ta' do than stalk people?" Icarus finished his sentence.

"I'd ask you the same thing, Bug Boy. I know a thing or two about your transformation ability, so in the end your spying skills don't amount to so much."

Icarus could only smirk in early victory and cross his arms at this point. "Ha! How can you be so sure about that? This island is filled with tons a' butterflies."

"Maybe you're right about that, but you're the only insect who watches people."

Things grew mute after this remark. Shadow could very well see that his friend had Icarus on the edge. But the butterfly wasn't ready to throw in the towel.

"Whatever ya' want this time, make it quick."

"Okay. Tell me why you blackmailed Amy into getting Shadow to come here."

Shadow was sure he heard these words come from her mouth. He was certain of it, but, thousands of questions started to consume his mind until he couldn't think straight; and his face never changed from its shocked expression.

Why had Icarus committed this blackmailing? And what did his purpose mean now if he were only called to this island to satisfy someone?

Rouge could tell her interrogations had worked because her suspect didn't answer as fast as he could have.

She grinned herself as this moment hadn't changed, until he frowned up and looked away while replying.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about."

"Do you really want to stick with that statement?" Rouge revealed a tape recorder from between her breasts.

"That's your evidence?" He gave a short laugh, "It's just a tape recorder."

"I haven't pressed play yet."

The FBI agent didn't hesitate in pressing the desired button, allowing the conversation where Amy and Icarus were on Tails's ship in the backroom to play every single word.

_"You said that you would go through with this plan of mine." _

At first it seemed bizarre, but soon, he could recall what was going to be said even before it played.

_"Shadow.. please say something... __Well, if that's that way ya' wanna play, then I'll just move along and look for the pen and paper that I brought with me."_

Icarus gave Rouge a face that spoke with disbelief and, "Who are you?"

There was only one thing to do since she wanted to be dirty.

Icarus gathered his needed energy and rushed towards the bat, but she flapped her wings and hovered, successfully dodging his move.

"Give me that tape!"

"Or what?" Rouge stayed in the air.

"I'll… I'll turn you over ta' the police and have ya' locked behind bars!"

"Ha!" Placing her evidence back between her breasts seemed like the best second idea.

"Do you know who you're trying to threaten? Those amateurs would never have a chance of capturing me, even if both of my eyes were closed! Now why don't you run along before I decide to tell her that you've came back?"

"Stay out of my business!" Icarus gathered flames in his hands and threw them straight at Rouge, but her excellent aerial skills came in handy.

"Fine, I don't have time to play with fire."

So she turned around and flew away, with the proof of his guilt between her womanhood.

Out of frustration, he fell to his knees and beat his fists into the ground. It was a simple task to fly after her and attempt retrieving that stupid device, but at the same time, he didn't want Amy to find out he'd returned when they had that big argument a while back.

All in all, Icarus was left in confusion and depression. From the beginning, he'd wanted just to be Amy's faithful guardian like he was assigned to be Kamimi's. But once they came to Chao Island her heart and mind scurried more over to that 'Shadow' guy.

And then she flipped out on Icarus, failing to see what he really thought of her. And now this nosey, tramp-looking bat had somehow recorded his planned blackmail. That tape could be used for anything she wanted, and to think Icarus didn't want any of these dramas to happen.

Shadow was now dealing with confusion himself, except his case held more anger than anything. He was Shadow the Hedgehog for crying out loud, not someone naïve fool like Sonic who would give a simple, "Oh, it's alright if you made me come here for your own nonsense." And maybe his guesses about the blue hedgehog were wrong, but it didn't change anything.

He turned around and started walking away from the leaves. "So this whole time…"

Yesterday when Amy appeared and started explaining about Chao flashed in his mind like a movie, and when he warned her about invading the bee's territory; those moments, he could say were… somehow calming to him.

"She deliberately used me to satisfy that pathetic butterfly!"

This time called to escape from this ridiculousness and journey to a place where he wasn't 'being used as a tool'. So the green Chaos Emerald appeared in his palm as he held his arm out. The small jewel shimmered in the moonlight, looking as if it'd just been polished.

"Very well, then… there is no reason for me to stay, so I'll just—"

Bushes rustled and caused him to act on his instincts and dodge whatever was speeding at him. He would have expected to be teleporting right about now, but a familiar presence decided to cut his time short.

"I should've expected you to realize I was in the area," Shadow spoke without turning to face the insect.

"Enough talkin'! I have a bone ta' pick with you!" Icarus yelled as he threw another fireball however his opponent easily dodged it.

"That's ridiculous! I have done nothing to you since I came here."

But Icarus wouldn't give up so soon; not when his hands still glowed with fire. "Don't play dumb! I saw how ya' treated Amy earlier, when all she tried ta' do was make you a little happy. And what do ya' do?"

He ceased his explanation, being that Shadow leapt towards a tree branch and ran towards the edge of it. It called for Icarus to unleash his wings and follow after the good-for-nothing fool, then burn him to a crisp.

"You yell at her and don't apologize!"

Shadow finally performed his Chaos Control and disappeared before his challenger's very eyes.

"Where'd that punk go?" Icarus flew towards the ground.

He couldn't think of anything else to do but search for the jerk, though he started wondering about how he vanished to begin with.

All was answered in about the next two and a half seconds when his foot appeared and smacked Icarus dead in the right side of his jaw, sending him to the ground. As it delivered the bug a great deal of pain, he raised his head from the ground and noticed his tooth lying about a foot away from him. He got all the way up to walk over to the bone and pick it up, but in the end, becoming upset and throwing it at a nearby tree.

"I know you're still out here! Come out and fight like a man!" His last sentence had an abrupt pause at the end as Icarus soon felt Shadow standing behind him.

He spun around, yet ended up being pinned to the ground. Shadow did this by clutching his hands together and placing the bug's face into the dirt. Icarus tried all he could to look over his shoulder and squirm free.

"Your spunk impresses me, but putting emotions before your actions won't get you anywhere. If you don't want your life to be turned into a nightmare, then I suggest you stay away from me."

"I'm not scared of ya'! Just try somethin' and I can tell Amy my guesses about you were right!"

Shadow never loosened his grip, but asked, "What guesses?"

"That you're nothin' but trouble, you never show emotion, or open up ta' anyone. Amy deserves better than that."

Instead of punching or spitting in his face, Shadow released his grip on his hands then stood up with crossed arms.

Icarus wasn't expecting anything like this at all, but he hurried with getting up and facing his new enemy; the hedgehog pulled out that same green jewel and held it above his head.

"Your heart still beats because of her."

"Because of her?" Icarus began running towards him, but Shadow disappeared along with the treasure's glow.


	8. Chapter 8

There was a hedgehog of about eleven years old; easy to get along with and had a sparkling personality.

One of this person's hobbies was to read fortunes and cast spells, so she explored her hometown and stumped upon a place where she could put her talents to good use: Kamimi's Fortune Shop.

"Hello?"

She studied the room that she was in and found a single table with a crystal ball sitting on it. The blue curtains hanging against the walls gave the whole room an enchanting look when she thought about it.

"Miss Kamimi? I'm here to ask if you can take me in as your underling."

"Beg your pardon?" A purple fox with chestnut-brown hair tied in a ponytail and clothed in a black cloak walked inside from what appeared to be a backroom. Because she was three inches taller, she looked down at the hedgehog and made a friendly smile. "So you asked if I could take you in as my…"

"Underling."

"Oh."

She couldn't help but become nervous. This Kamimi hadn't given a detailed response, so who was to say if she would get accepted?

"So, you like dealing with tarot cards and magic?"

"Mhm."

Kamimi placed a hand to her chin while circling around her visitor. It was always in her blood to study the appearance of people whom she was becoming acquainted with. "What's your name, and how old are you?"

"My name is Amy Rose, and I'm eleven."

The employer only walked around her once more, then returned to standing in front of the younger girl. "Well, from your aura, I can tell you have a pure soul, and you can be very gentle to those you care for, but I'm looking for more than just that."

These words made Amy feel like she were being pushed to the ground. How could Kamimi deny her a chance just because of her age and golden personality?

She could see how easily hurt Amy was reacting. "That's not to say you aren't a good person. You're probably a very wonderful friend to have," Kamimi gave a tiny grin, "The sort of job you're asking for requires a lot of energy, and –"

"She's actually more than ya' think."

Kamimi and Amy turned around as that this voice came from the backroom; and the person carrying it was a male butterfly who came in the color of snow, with black wings and purple eyes.

Kamimi turned around as these words of his had piqued her interest, and Amy did the same because… she'd never met a butterfly before.

Anthropomorphic species like these existed and she never knew about it until this very moment in time.

"What exactly can you tell me about this little girl?" Kamimi folded her arms while facing her guardian.

"What can I tell you?" Icarus brought sarcasm into the conversation. "Where should I even begin? That person standin' behind ya' is none other than the famous Amy Rose! The girl who used her tarot cards ta' predict Sonic the Hedgehog's arrival ta' her home planet about three or fours years ago. He actually showed up and rescued her like the cards told her! And now she helps him fight evil with her special Piko Piko Hammer! I know ya' remember when them and their friends worked together ta' save our planet while trapped on the historical ARK!"

It surprised Amy to know that a stranger knew so much about her. But when she thought about it, maybe the television and news channels had decided to always broadcast interviews explaining their heroic deeds; it made sense.

After hearing these few details, Kamimi found herself growing more pleased to get more acquainted with Amy. If anyone were affiliated with Sonic, that meant a great deal to her because the cerulean hedgehog was her favorite hero.

The fortune teller stayed silent as Icarus was continuing his explanation.

"And the time where they stopped Metal Overlord from wreckin' mayhem? Or when Doctor Eggman tried ta' unleash the legendary monster Chaos? Tell me you've heard about one of those stories, Miss Kamimi!"

"Well…" Icarus grinned at the expectance of his friend agreeing with him. "There were stories I heard about, except I didn't know Amy Rose was her name. And there was something about her being very temperamental."

"Ohh, no no no! That must be a rumor someone who doesn't like me is spreading around!" Amy insisted as a sweat drop appeared on her head and one of her ears titled downward, "Amy Rose is my actual birth name, and no way do I get easily mad. It takes a lot to get me angry, honest! Heh heh."

The last thing Amy needed while trying to become Kamimi's underling was for her temper to be exposed and her identity to be mistaken. But thanks to this butterfly's comments, getting the position seemed to be within her reach.

A light chuckle escaped Icarus's lips. "But who wouldn't like someone as nice as you?" he thought as he gazed at Amy.

"Hmm…" Kamimi still needed more time to think. Here was a practical celebrity standing before them, asking if she could become her student and help run her shop.

Of course if Amy were hired, the youngling would have to start with reading the crystal ball; Kamimi believed it should be where every beginner was required to start.

"You know what? I think we could use someone like you, Amy Rose."

Amy clasped her hands together as her eyes began shining. "So does that mean I get to be your underling?"

"Yep!"

"Ohh, thank you so much, Miss Kamimi! I'm so happy that you've decided to accept me!" Amy rushed over to the older girl and embraced her, almost knocking her down. "I always figured that my powers should be put to better use."

"Of course," Kamimi smiled back.

Seconds later, Amy let go of her new mentor and stood with hands behind her back. She couldn't believe that she'd actually said yes. Something such as this called for a celebration, but while that came to mind, Kamimi added, "So now that you're officially my underling, you should probably look for clothes that make you look like one."

"Right!"

It hadn't taken long for the rose to turn around and bolt for the exit. She wouldn't purchase ordinary pieces of clothing, but the best for this new job.

If she were joyous, then so was Icarus.

"And why are you looking so happy?" Kamimi teased with a smirk.

"Oh, w-well, aren't you?" a blushed glowed on the butterfly's cheeks, "This is the first time in eight months that someone has wanted ta' be taken in as your student."

"I know… I can understand just how determined this Amy Rose girl is, but, I hope she's strong enough to handle it."

"Come on, ya' barely hired her and already you're startin' ta' doubt."

"I wouldn't call it doubting. More like looking at things as they really are. It's like you, Icarus. Getting to where you are took longer than you expected, didn't it?"

"Yeah, well…" Icarus started rubbing the back of his head.

"And you're still not finished with your lesson on telepathy, now that I think about it."

"That's a whole different story. I could have that skill mastered by now, but…"

"But what?"

"… I'm still behind since the problem with clearin' my thoughts hasn't stopped."

"And that's perfectly fine." Kamimi's voice grew calm as she placed an assuring hand on Icarus's shoulder. "I know how hard it can be to learn telepathy. That's why those who wanted to be recruited before Amy Rose either passed away or left, because they gave up. The point is, with her in our group now, we're going to have to work extra harder, that's all. When I'm away on an adventure, teach her everything you know. And show her how to act when customers come to receive a fortune. Not a hard thing to do, right?"

"Nope!" Icarus's mouth lifted into a smile.

"Then it's settled. She has a chance to prove herself."

* * *

By now, the sky was painted with its many warm colors, and the sun had met with the brink of the horizon; the different lakes and rivers sparkled beautifully thanks to this.

Chao Island's mountains were kissed by the sky's orange tint, not so much of a wind passed by, and few birds could be seen flying across the skies.

As this scenery didn't carry much pizzazz, neither did the heroes' day, with Amy still inside her tent.

After decisive thinking, her friends were able to come up with aliases for their Chao. The baby known as Flash belonged to Sonic, Clank to Tails, Choco to Cream, Wally to Big, Spike to Knuckles, Pearl to Rouge, Sparky to Storm, and Dash to Wave.

Sonic and Storm were asked to gather more firewood. Meanwhile, Tails, Knuckles, Wave, and Big could be seen standing or walking in different areas with their each of their Chao waddling. Soon the little creatures would know how to walk, but in the meantime, all that could happen was keeping them fed and making sure they didn't crawl away from the campsite.

Doctor Chao, Mister Chao, and Miss Chao all kept their eyes on this, making different comments or simply handing out tips on how to take care of the younger generation.

Rouge and her Chao's disappearances were known, but they figured it was best to let the woman and baby keep their business hidden.

Cream, Cheese, and Choco, were heading towards Amy's tent to visit. She could be seen dressed in gray sweats and a matching tank top. Rosey lay right next to her on her pallet.

"We're all wondering if you feel better, Amy."

"Oh, I do. So, is everyone ready to have the party?" Amy got up from the floor.

"Yeah! Wait, hold on a second… remember you asked Mr. Sonic and Mr. Storm to get more firewood?"

Storm wasn't sure how, but this talk he was sharing with Sonic while they both carried their Chao turned out to be fun.

And this time when they searched for wood, they chose to walk through the same eerie cave they'd entered to reach their campsite. Hopefully there were still some logs and branches lying around.

"I'm not sure how I came up with the name 'Sparky'," Storm looked down at his Chao," But I think he likes it. What about the name you gave your Chao?"

By now, they'd reached the light at the end of the tunnel and were at the other part of the outside.

"You mean Flash? He's gonna be quick like his guardian, that's why! The bad guys will have to watch out for both of us. Isn't that right, lil' buddy?"

He grinned down at his Chao and hoped for a response, but all Flash said was, "Chao Chao!"

Right after that, a powerful gust of wind kicked up, causing everyone to look away and shut their eyes. Grass, rocks, and grains of dirt got taken into the whirlwind. Moments later, the air became a tornado and trapped them.

Storm managed to lift one of his eyelids and catch a glimpse of a figure ten feet in front of them as the wind died down. Both of his eyes bulged when things became clearer, but what the figure turned out to be couldn't possibly be…

"Jet!" Sonic exclaimed, "We've been wondering where you've were! What's with this game of hide and seek?"

"It hasn't been a game," the hawk retorted, "Storm, grab your things so we can leave."

He still couldn't find the right words to say. To think that this whole time, his boss was following them in the form of wind when he'd been asked to gather details by himself. And now he was ordering him to leave in a hurry.

"Huh? But why?"

"You know as well as I do. It turns out this island doesn't have any treasure."

"Treasure…? Wait!" Sonic then looked at Storm. "So you mean to tell me—"

"No, it's not what you think!" the albatross took a step back and shook his head. "This vacation was all Wave's idea, but she didn't want ta' come by herself, so Jet and I decided ta' tag along. The treasure was just—"

"Hey, shut up! You're giving my plan away!"

"I think I've heard enough to figure you out," Sonic along with Flash glared at Jet. "You've came to the wrong place if you're looking for jewels."

"Chao chao chao chao chao!"

It was even worse to hear that brat in Sonic's arms trying to bark at him. "Yeah, whatever. Storm, hurry up already so we can leave this place."

As Storm began to think, Sonic looked up at him. He didn't believe the bird would leave when he'd just become a parent. And truthfully, Storm enjoyed the life of a Babylon Rouge, but still had a great time. It was different because he could have satisfaction without having to steal anything, instead it were openly given to him.

To see the older male quit and leave with his cold-hearted leader would disappoint Sonic.

Storm took all of his enjoyment into account. Did he really want to throw all of it away? For someone who was mean, bossy, and controlling to him always?

"No."

"Huh? I don't think I heard you right," Jet's anger simmered in his stomach. "It sounded like you said no."

"That is what I said. This place has grown on me, and everybody likes it but you."

"I don't care what everybody likes! Now move along so we can get off this island!"

"He made it clear that he wants to stay!"

Either hedgehog or the birds made this comment. They all turned around to find a slim girl with glasses perched on her head approaching them.

"Wave…!" Jet wasn't expecting 'her' to show up at all.

Sonic and Storm were left with just as much surprise. Her appearance could only mean that she'd managed to ask someone to watch over Dash for her. But still, what'd made her decide to follow after them?

All in all, Storm knew what this situation would lead up to. "Uh oh… I think we should let them talk in private."

"Right behind you on that."

Seeing albatross and hedgehog begin to tread away, Jet hollered, "Hey! When did I say you could go anywhere? Huh?"

Things became tense when a giant wrench appeared before his eyes. She made the first swing with all her might but missed his face.

"What's gotten into you?" Jet's eyes shrunk with fear.

The hawk had to constantly dodge and evade Wave's fearsome tool. Not for anything would she cease.

"You had no intention of helping us restore this island to normal! Grabbing Mr. Chao into a chokehold when he mentioned the hurricane was only an act to make everyone think that you actually had a heart!"

For attacking, Wave was pretty quick, but Jet never wavered.

"Instead of actually supporting us, you had Storm follow us to the Chao Lobby and look for treasure there!"

How dare she say he was pretending to show heart?

"I did mean it when I grabbed him! What makes you figure I lied?"

"I've known you for six years, dummy-head!"

Again, Jet ducked to save his face from being pummeled in. "W-well, you've changed a lot through all that time too!"

"Don't try turning the tables! I'm not the one with the issue right now!"

"Really? Well the last time I checked, you were Wave the Swallow!"

… this statement… where had he…?

Jet could now stand without having to move or jump. Her wrench slipped from her fingers, and she lost all frustration and instead started feeling… shocked… appalled… couldn't believe what'd came from his mouth.

He couldn't have been serious…

"…what?" Wave's tone became stern, "Then just who am I supposed to be now?"

He only turned around and didn't show any sign of remorse. "I don't know! That's for you to find out."

"So, this is how it's going to be… after you promised me you would come." She couldn't look at him now, just like he hadn't enough calmness to face her. His promise became one of the only important things to her, and now he'd tossed it aside.

"You still seem to know me well."

Without so much as a farewell, Jet faded into his wind form and flowed away, the grass swaying as he made his departure.

As for Wave, she couldn't pick herself up from the ground.

"Hey, Storm?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you and Wave meet Jet?"

"How did we meet? Well… I could tell you, but you gotta promise not ta' tell Wave."

"No worries, you can trust me."

"Alright," Storm cleared his throat, "Well, Jet's my step brother. We had the same Ma', but not Pa'. Jet moved in ta' live with us when we lived in Spring Yard City. Lots and lots of thieves always lurked around, so cus' our parents were always broke, Jet decided ta' become a thief. He always came back with all sorts of loot, and the reason he was so good at it was cus' he said he came from a family of nothin' but Rogues. So after a while, I got tired of the way things were and decided ta' let Jet teach me how ta' be like him. But I was wrong for ever lettin' that happen."

"Well everything's better now," Sonic gave a thumbs up, "You don't have to go back to that old life, Storm. What you do for a living is all up to you, and no one can change that. Heh heh. Why do you think I love freedom so much?"

"Yeah, you're right about that. I'm really glad I learned that. Who's gonna take care of Sparky if I'm not around anyway? It's my responsibility ta' make sure he grows up right, ya' know?"

"Yep, I couldn't agree more! But hey, there's something else that I wanna know."

"Ask away!"

"How did Wave ever get into the thieving business?"

"Wave…? Oh, her reason's not like mine at all," Storm looked away from Sonic," Before we met her, she used ta' be royalty."

"What? No way!" Sonic had to think this over before parting his lips again. It all sounded so bizarre and out of order. "Wave used to be a…?"

"Uh-huh."

_Inside an elegant room with purple wallpaper and silk curtains, the Swallow Princess is sitting in the middle of her carpet, appearing to tinker with a silver wristwatch. However the work is being done, it's went on for about three days._

_And after all that time, her mother decides to enter her chambers and take another peek at it. Why her daughter or royal blood would want to spend her time dealing with something for men to do, she never knew._

_"Sweetie? Just what sort of contraption are you working on now?"_

_"It's an ordinary watch, but after I'm finished making these final adjustments, it's going to be a watch that can read the weather."_

_"Well, I suggest you set it aside or at least work faster. Your father has brought another suitor for you to meet."_

_The young woman sets her item beside her window and follows her mother out the door and into the throne room. "Anything besides that reindeer from Ice Cap Country. That giant nose of his was such a turnoff."_

"Dude…" Sonic interrupted, "Sorry for cutting you off, but I'm not a huge fan of romance."

"Oh. Well, I'll move onto a later part of the story," a sweat drop formed on Storm's head.

_When the moon is at its brightest, and stars twinkle all around it, the Swallow Princess and her husband-to-be reside in her kingdom's extravagant courtyard, staring at each other with loving eyes and intertwined fingers._

_"So only three more days, and then we can finally say 'I do'."_

_"Yeah, sure."_

_They near towards each other for what's proclaimed to be their true love's first kiss, but she halts and takes her hands out of his. A weird feeling lingers in the air and she's not going to ignore it._

_"Wait a second. Just hours ago, you were so excited about our wedding."_

_"Yeah, well no duh! All in a con artist's work, don't you think?"_

_"What the-?" She grows scared and wonders why her fiancée is saying this, then notices him remove bird parts from his face, to make him carry the identity of a fox!_

_It's just as she never expected._

_"I can't believe this cheap disguise fooled you! You princesses are all so naive!"_

_"Oh yeah? Well all princesses can kick butt!" Even if she were a female, that didn't mean the Swallow Princess couldn't pull out a weapon. And it was better because it was her wrench._

_"Just try to lay a hit on me with that stupid—"_

_The sly fox had been knocked out cold before he could even finish his sentence._

_After all this time, she can't believe that her fiancée turns out to be nothing more but someone after her family's wealth, and maybe even herself._

_Feet away from the Swallow Princess, a hawk with green feathers has noticed her and sees her begin to cry. It was his sole intention to kidnap and hold the maiden hostage for money, but now his conscience whispers a little something in his ear and makes him decide otherwise._

_"Hey."_

_When this is only a casual greeting, the hawk ends up having to leap and safe himself from being whacked by that same tool._

_The Swallow Princess cries, "Get away from me!"_

_"Woah, settle down! I'm not here to hurt you."_

_"I've just been conned by some fox who I thought was my fiancée!" She looks at this stranger with her teary eyes, showing just how broken she's become. "So how do I know that you won't try the same thing and kidnap me for money?"_

_"Because…" he can't say her eyes are lying. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to be recruited as my newest comrade."_

_"You mean like join your team?"_

_"Yeah, but more like a group of thieves."_

_"Thieves? Do you not see this crown on my head?"_

_"I've got jewels that make that crown look like an antique!"_

_"Yeah right."_

_"No, I seriously do."_

_"What makes you think I'd want to be a thief anyway?"_

_"Well, I mean…" the hawk wants his explanation to make sense. "You were amazing when it came to knocking that guy out with your wrench. And, you look like you have a talent with… tinkering?"_

_"It's a just a wrench, and I don't get to build as much devices as I'd like to. My mom thinks it's un-ladylike."_

_"Well see? You could build as much as you want if you became a thief. We need smart people like you."_

_He'd only made this last statement to make his argument sound more convincing, but she interprets it in a different manner and blushes, making him do the same thing._

_"Boss!" a voice deeper than the hawk's comes from behind everyone._

_When they look over their shoulders, they discover a grey albatross running with a giant sack of treasure._

_"Those guys we got this treasure from found out that we're comin' here! We gotta hurry before they catch up!"_

_"Gotcha!" the apparent leader turns to face the Swallow Princess again. "So are you gonna become one of us or what?"_

_She didn't plan on getting asked anything like this, but at the time, it seems like such the right path to follow. So Princess of Swallows readies her wrench and goes in the direction that the albatross came from. "You two make a run for it while I hold them off."_

_And so this was how the Swallow Princess began her new life as a Babylon Rogue; feeling no regrets, and getting acquainted with the idea that she could have anything she wanted._

Sonic couldn't believe this was how thieves met, but then again, anything 'was' possible, he believed.

"Wow! So she joined your guys' team just like that?" the hedgehog asked Storm.

"Yep. Huh?" Storm had to pause as he'd seen Sonic turn around and walk in the direction they just came from. There must have been something the older guy missed. "Where are you going?"

Not to mention Flash was left in Storm's sights without so much as Sonic asking if he could watch him.

Like Sonic figured, he found Wave sitting on the edge of a cliff. She was gazing at the deep sunset, and had her knees hugged into her chest with arms wrapped around them.

Footsteps grew louder at each passing second

"Who's there? Whoever you are, go away."

"It's just me."


	9. Chapter 9

She looked over her shoulder, and indeed found a hedgehog placing a pair of concerned eyes on her. Just what did he want this time?

"Well, like I said, leaving would be a good idea."

"Sorry, but I can't do that. You shouldn't be alone when there're people who care about you."

"You must be joking," Wave frowned and looked back at the sunset, "No one on this island cares. Not even… oh, never mind."

"Me being here means I do. Right now, Ames is preparing a big dish of nachos for us to all eat, and there's gonna be a bowl with your name on it."

For someone who was persistent, Sonic could be very calm and assuring about whoever he was trying to help.

The conversation remained silent until he spoke up again. "So whadda you say?"

Wave couldn't deny how much he was caring. Not even Storm would have approached and tried talking; but that wasn't to say she wanted anyone to talk with.

So he wanted an answer? Well, she would give it to him. "I say…"

"Boom!"

Two rockets zipped towards Sonic and Wave, but the pair leapt out of harm's way while the missiles exploded into the ground.

They searched the area for where these weapons came from, and their eyes fell upon a portly figure sitting inside a floating mobile vehicle. They were in the air and descending towards them.

So he'd decided to come to this island too, thought Sonic.

The hedgehog folded his arms and smirked. It didn't amaze him in the slightest that his evil nemesis decided to invade Chao Island and take whatever was valuable. This episode of the scientist showing up to ruin everything was a pure classic.

"Doctor Eggman!" Wave exclaimed.

"Heh," added Sonic, "Had a feeling you'd show up sooner or later. Aren't you suppose to be on a vacation of your own, Doc?"

"Who cares about that?" Wave glared at Sonic then at Eggman. "Why did you try to kill us just now?"

"I didn't feel like waiting for you to finish your conversation, as I have a more important manner to bring up."

"Like what?"

Wave was ready to interrogate this egotistical villain, but he all of a sudden revealed a familiar trinket from his pocket and held it in his palm. That looked like…

"No…! That's grandmother's music box! The same one that she used to play every night before I went to sleep..." The swallow clenched both fists and her eyes blazed with a new fire. "Just how did Doctor Eggman get his filthy hands on it?"

Sonic asked with a curious tone, "What's with the box?"

"Ohh, just my way of making sure your friend doesn't weasel out of the deal I have for her."

"Just make your stupid point already," Wave crossed her arms.

"Well, for the past few weeks, there has been a brilliant idea that's came to mind. When I lose to Sonic, it's because I've used brawn but not enough brain. So that's where you come in. I know for a fact that your IQ is almost exact to mine."

A button was pressed, allowing Sonic's first rival to arrive by hovering with jet thrusters. The robotized Sonic appeared by his creator's side in nothing but five seconds, with eyes that glowed like rubies.

The Doctor's explanation didn't end there. "So,Wave, will you be my right hand accomplice and help build my empire, or would you rather see this music box crushed and be destroyed by my robot here?"

That trinket meant so much more to Wave than anyone would know. To see it be used as a threat hurt the ex-princess terribly. But she couldn't go along with his dastard plans.

For reasons Wave didn't know, she couldn't turn over and accept the trinket in front of everyone; there would have to be another way of obtaining it.

Her grandmother and the music box played in her mind. Those soft melodious notes never died out, nor did her grand-mama's warm smile.

She could look at Metal Sonic and already see that it had locked its targets on her to fight, as though her decision had already been predicted. It called time for her to grip her wrench in a battling fashion. "I'll take my chances with the robot."

Eggman couldn't say he didn't see this coming, but it didn't affect him. This purple swallow didn't know what she was putting herself into.

"Very well then…" Eggman opened the box and snapped it in half, then discarded the pieces to the ground.

When it fell, Wave could feel her heart sting in pain.

As her grandmother had disappeared out of her life, this last memory of her had also.

"Metal Sonic, see to it that this girl is brought back to me alive."

The machine nodded its head, then sprinted straight for the Babylon Rogue.

"Hmph! I guess Eggman will never get to know me well enough."

After muttering, Wave tightened her grip and held her tool now as if she were the batter for a baseball game.

She couldn't help but take a final gaze at her broken melody box.

"Just try to knock me down!"

Swinging was the best idea, except Metal Sonic's speed had been taken for granted, causing Wave to evade his rush instead of damaging him.

"Should've known this robot would be as fast as Sonic. I'd have to say this is the only smart thing Doctor Eggman's done."

Electricity danced on Metal Sonic's claws and thrusters spewed with more neon blue as it raced towards her. The moment for the android to sink its piercing fingers into her flesh came; however a white fist made a dent in his face and sent him to the ground.

Wave noticed the person responsible for this and grunted.

"You should hurry back to the others! I'll handle Metal-head here," Sonic insisted.

"Whatever."

The swallow turned away from Sonic and decided that she regain what was hers, but a sharp pain immediately got sent into her back.

Sonic didn't notice this until he heard a faint thudding noise come from beside him.

"Wave…?"

Inside her back was a small hole with blood pouring out of it. Why didn't he notice this a second sooner, or at least hear a gun fire? Then the reason hit him. Egg-head, with an ebony hand gun. Eggman…!

A metal fist came to Sonic's cheek and knocked him down before he could act.

Gritting her teeth together and digging her nails into the ground helped somewhat. This pain in her back was nothing like she'd ever experienced.

Her trinket lay only a small distance away from her; surely she could… "Just why did you underestimate him?" Wave thought this in her mind as she crawled. "One of the smartest people on Earth and you think he'll let you run away?" Jet came to mind when her last thought arose. "When 'did' you ever get to become someone else…?"

Soon a large shoe landed on top of her hand and brought even more distraught.

She groaned in pain and looked up to find the Doctor smirking evilly down at her. He'd shown no mercy removing his foot. And if that wasn't horrible enough, her vision started to get blurry.

"Did you honestly think I'd let you escape when I have a position for you to take?"

Her free arm wobbled when she tried getting up from the ground, but she fell on her stomach. Her eyelids never managed to stay open.

Sonic threw a fierce kick but missed, then watched his opponent leap onto one of the palm trees.

No time soon was their duel going to end.

"If I were you, I'd surrender while you're still able to breath. That measly box isn't going to save you."

"Chaos Blast!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing to search for this new voice, but a huge explosion all of the sudden overtook the area; not to mention Eggman's vehicle exploded and became scraps of metal.

Smoke was left behind, while everyone fell to the ground.

Metal Sonic was the first to catch sight of the shadowy figure in its presence, while Sonic the second.

The dust cleared away, and the mysterious guest turned out to be standing on a palm tree with their arms folded, and usual emotionless face.

"Well, look who came to save the day!" Sonic rose to his feet.

This hedgehog… Metal Sonic hadn't discovered it until now. Sonic had been his only competition, so who this second person was, his systems didn't carry any information. He seemed relatable to Sonic, carried the same features, yet higher energy readings.

Ending up away from Dr. Eggman, Wave became unconscious; the pieces to her melody box lie next to her.

Shadow ignored his twin's words and leapt towards Eggman, who'd risen from the ground.

"Shadow! I never expected you to be here!"

"Same to you." The hedgehog wasted no time with grabbing his creator's grandson by the his suit collar. "Now tell me why you've came to this island! There's nothing here that will interest you."

"Maybe you're correct about, that, but it does have that swallow over there." With his index finger, he pointed at Wave.

There was no more to be interrogated about, so the scientist was released and fell the ground yet again. He got up for a second time and ordered his minion, "Metal Sonic! Return to the base and call for reinforcements."

After that, he dusted his clothes and started to walk away while Metal Sonic vanished.

"Running away so soon, Egg-head?" Sonic grinned.

"This isn't the end, you annoying pests! Once I create a means of transportation, that swallow is coming with me. And you fools will have to deal with my reinforcements. They should be here soon, then we will see who wins," a darkish series of laughs came from Eggman as he kept his pace.

Things would definitely change now that Dr. Eggman was on Chao Island. And the rest of Sonic's friends had no idea of the battle that just occurred. They would have to be informed of it as soon as possible.

Moments later, Sonic thought out loud, "Where does he think he can go?"

"I don't think that should be our main concern."

"Right!" Thanks to Shadow, Sonic hurried over to Wave and knelt down. She was out cold and still breathing.

The only option was to grab and carry her in his arms, so Sonic did just that. He thought the Ultimate Life Form was going to accompany him, but when he looked up… not a single person lay in sight.

* * *

When Sonic returned to the campsite with Wave, everyone grew shocked and thought the worst had happened to Wave.

After removing the bullet from inside her body, Tails confirmed that it was nothing more than a sleeping bullet; a piece of ammo who's purpose was not to bring death, but to send the target into a deep unconsciousness for a short amount of time. It'd been no wonder that the shot wasn't heard, because Eggman was smart enough to place it inside a silent gun.

Nevertheless, Wave had risen from her sleep, and her precious Dash went back into her arms.

It was Tails's suggestion for her to not move so much, but lie on her back with Dash still held so she could heal faster.

Amy's 'Chao Party' was successful with the food and drinks that she and Cream served, but turned out to be the total opposite of how she figured it'd be. Eggman's arrival was talked about, Wave had to stay inside her tent, and three people were missing: Rouge, Pearl, and… Shadow.

Even after three days, the devastation never left Amy.

She lay on her bed with Rosey sitting in front of her.

By now, everyone's Chao knew how to walk and developed physical features similar to their owners, but Amy didn't exactly feel any time pass.

All she knew was that Shadow had approached her minutes after Sonic left, saying he learned of the scheme she'd hatched with Icarus, and threatened her to not ever pull a stunt like that again.

"Why did I go along with his stupid plan? I didn't bother to think how it would turn out in the end. I should've taken the punishment and told Kamimi that I borrowed some of her Reina's Powder!" Amy turned to her side and closed her eyes. "Because I put myself first, Shadow was forced to come here…"

"Chao!"

Amy sat up to look for the baby who spoke this and found Flash walking towards her with a piece of Chao Fruit.

Growing those seeds of Doctor Chao's had come in more use just like he said it would.

"Flash!" Amy didn't expect the thoughtful Chao to walk in and offer her some of his food. "Thanks for the fruit. I was thinking about getting some for Rosey. Here you go!" she smiled and handed the delicious meal to her Chao.

Sonic stepped into Amy's tent, grabbing her whole attention. "Oh. I see Flash already gave Rosey the fruit."

"Yeah, it was very sweet of him to do that. So, you and him are taking a break from jogging?"

"Ehh, you could say that. So it looks like you've gotten tired of your dress?"

Amy looked down at herself with a tad embarrassment. "Oh no, I just feel more comfortable in these. These past few days have worn me out."

"You could say that again," Sonic yawned and stretched his arms.

Rosey was still eating her fruit, while Flash decided to sit next to her and listen to his owner and Amy talk.

"By the way, will we get to have more of you and Rosey's chocolate smores?" Sonic changed the subject.

"Definitely! Rosey enjoys helping me make those. Isn't that right, Rosey?"

"Chao Chao!"

Flash smiled along with Rosey at her answer.

Speaking of being worn out, Amy had to let out a yawn of her own, so she did the same as Sonic. "Is it just me or is there someone missing? And I don't mean Icarus."

"You mean Jet. I noticed too, but Wave knows where he went and won't tell anyone."

"Oh… well, that figures. She's just like-"

His blazing red eyes and sharp white fangs came to mind before she could finish her sentence.

"Just like what?"

"You know, now's probably a good time for me to take a nap."

Sonic wasn't about to let this slip away.

"Before you do that, we need to talk."

She could see how serious he was, and watched him motion to sitting down.

"Talk?"

It came time to bring up the more important matters, and Sonic was one to not hesitate. "You haven't been yourself since Shadow disappeared. Did something happen between you guys?"

It wasn't simple to explain her story to someone else, and he knew this; which was why he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it a bit to let her know everything would be okay.

"…y-yes." So she took a deep breath. "It all started before we came here. I was at work and it was around my break, so I pulled out a book to read. That's when Shadow walked in and asked me to do a task that I wasn't properly trained for."

"What was this task?"

"To bring Maria back from the dead."

"Oh… so how did he take it when you said you couldn't bring her back?"

"He insisted that I could. He really believed that I had the power to revive her, so he told me to meet him on the south end of Station Square. When I started the spell, I needed my mentor's magic. But I took it from her shelf without asking."

Amy looked away as old guilt started to reborn, so Sonic squeezed her shoulder again. He was going to make sure he helped the dear rose through this.

"Did anyone ever figure that out?"

"Icarus did. That's why you all probably wondered where I was when we were on Tails's ship. We were in the backroom, and he was blackmailing me into getting Shadow to follow us. He made me call him by using his telepathy."

None of this made sense to Sonic. Blackmailing was a crafty tactic to use, and he could believe that Icarus was the mastermind, but how did Shadow fall into it?

"Wait… so he wanted Shadow to come and hang out with us? Talk about change of heart."

"No… he wanted him to come because he thought I was hiding something about him."

"Really?"

"Look, I'd appreciate if we stopped talking about this. I'm glad you want to cheer me up, but I—"

"You're innocent."

The conversation became dead silent; soundless to a point where only Rosey munching into her food could be heard, but even then the pink baby paused.

Flash and her were smart enough to read the hedgehogs' body languages; there was a problem about something.

Amy wasn't sure if she heard him right. She couldn't be innocent, when she deliberately helped Icarus with his entire plan.

She wanted to speak, but her emotions kept her quiet.

"We probably wouldn't have found that key if Shadow hadn't shown up. All you wanted for him was to be happy. The world would be a better place if it had more people like you. I'm sure he's forgiven you by now."

These words coming out of Sonic's mouth made perfect sense, but… for the strangest reason… Shadow sat in front of Amy now. She started to see him inside of the person who was proclaimed to be her blue hero, and she didn't know how or why.

When Sonic added, "He's not an open person, but that doesn't mean he can't give you a second chance," all Amy heard 'Shadow' say was, "I'm not an open person, but that doesn't mean I can't give you a second chance."

It surprised and relieved her to see him. She wasn't sure if he would return. He'd left and acted like he never wanted to see her again. Maybe now she could share what she felt had to be said.

"Shadow!"

Why Sonic was pulled into an embrace he didn't know. But there was something very unusual about this one… it didn't deplete him of his oxygen or almost crack his bones. Her grip was more gentle and comfortable. On top of that, she said Shadow's name and not his.

Amy then let go of Sonic, then sat back down and laid her hands in her lap. "Now that you're back, I think I should tell you what I've just realized."

"Huh? Tell me what?"

"When you left, I didn't feel like my self. I know you're not used to showing your feelings, but its okay. I'm here for you, always. I really wish there were a way that we could've revived Maria. I was surprised at how much faith you had in me, but I should still apologize, because I could imagine how much she meant to you. There's someone who means a lot to me too."

"Who?" 'Shadow' blushed.

Of course he had a right to know, but it wasn't easy for Amy to say. The young female had to decide in her mind whether or not she had the confidence to answer.

Her cheeks started to warm up and glow as well. "Well… you're first guess I'm sure is Sonic. He's taught me so much, always rescued me when I was in danger, and can be very sweet. You're guess doesn't answer the question though."

"If it's not him, then who is it?"

"… it's you."

* * *

As the full moon hung in the midnight blue sky, Rouge made her way back to camp with Pearl in her arms.

"It almost disappoints me to see that this island doesn't have any treasure on it."

"You wouldn't know treasure if it stared you in the face," Knuckles approached the bat.

Knuckie?

Rouge felt she had to stop walking and see what this red idiot wanted. "Well look what the cat woke up. I think it's past your bedtime, especially if you're going to be insulting me."

"Cut the crap, wouldja'? Besides, it's past your Chao's bedtime too."

"I'm Pearl's guardian, so I say when she goes to bed. Now why don't you get lost so I can catch up on my beauty sleep?"

"Not before I say what I came out here for."

Growing impatient, she placed a free hand to her waist.

Knuckles added, "You're closer to Shadow than any of us. Tell me why he ran off earlier."

"I'm still wondering about that myself."

She had to have been joking.

"So you really don't have a clue as to why? No guesses whatsoever?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know! He obviously wasn't having any fun while he was here. Maybe he decided to vacation somewhere else."

She walked past the echidna after that without any care. If there were anything she knew about her friend's reasons for leaving the island, what law said that she had to tell anyone?

"You expect me to believe that?"

Rouge entered her tent, making the atmosphere more silent; because everyone except for her, Knuckles, and Sonic were awake. Knuckles and Sonic had been the only ones who felt it was necessary to investigate the situation with Amy and Shadow.

So maybe Rouge wouldn't help them with that at the moment, but Knuckles wouldn't let her stubbornness stop him.

"I'm gonna find out what's really going down, 'batgirl', whether you like it or not."

It was assumed that Wave was asleep, but in actuality, she had trouble closing her eyes; that wasn't to say she became concerned about Amy's issues.

Those same words of Jet's from earlier seemed to stay glued to her mind.

"Well the last time I checked, you were Wave the Swallow…!" Again and again this phrase played like a broken recorder.

The swallow could admit that proclaiming to restore Chao Island and becoming a guardian did change some small things about herself, but the way Jet spoke it, it was as though she were becoming worse. But that just sounded…

"No!" Wave turned to her side as she thought this and noticed Dash.

Since the Chao were a male, his tail had morphed into that of a swallow's, his mouth was in the process of transforming into a beak, and wings became a lighter shade of red.

He looked at peace when he was sleep, resting his head against one arm. Someone like Dash was very important, and needed morals and attention. That was why Wave needed to be the best parent she could be, and she wasn't going to let even Jet make her feel less than what she were worth.

Dash was the reason Wave probably became someone else.

A tiny smile crept on her beak as she rubbed Dash's cheek with her hand. Never had she carried the experience or responsibility like this. It felt so new and interesting to her.

With all of her power and heart, 'Wave the Swallow' would make sure nothing changed her, or her closeness with Dash.

"So she doesn't know anything?"

"That's what she says, but don't worry. We'll find the answers we want. In the meantime," Knuckles yawned, "I'm gonna call it a night and hit the sack."

"Same here. 'Night Knuckles."

"Night."

As the echidna left his tent, Sonic remained sitting down, except he was still thinking. The situation was more important than anyone could say.

Earlier with Amy, she'd freaked him out in such a way that… that she were becoming someone else.

Sonic was afraid to believe this, but its pieces were already coming together.

Knuckles didn't know what to say either when he heard about the conversation Sonic and Amy shared hours earlier. For one thing, no one could explain why she spoke to Sonic like he was Shadow. She wasn't insane; though on Prison Island she'd mistaken Shadow for her blue hero and clutched him into an embrace.

Tails could most likely formulate a better hypothesis about the issue, but no one wanted to wake the little guy up at such a late hour. It could wait until the morning.

When he should've been getting ready to sleep, an inward voice spoke to Sonic, and the hedgehog found himself creeping into Amy's tent.

As he'd never seen the younger hedgehog behave like earlier, he felt it necessary to check on her.

She turned in her sleep and let out a moan, Rosey doing the same.

Doctor Chao had also explained that Chao after some time would look at their owners and began to pick up on their characteristics, so sleeping was the first part with Amy and her baby.

Sonic chuckled to himself at this, but happened to notice something peculiar.

"Huh?"

A batch of white daisies lay above her head. Cream was the only suspect who could've helped pick them and Amy set them there.

These plants looked so pretty indeed.

"Hmmm…." Sonic put a hand to his chin and kept staring at them.

Each of them held some appeal about them, but he reached for the one on the left and held it in his hands.

This one in particular would do just fine.

He didn't know the first thing about maneuvering Tails's ship, so there had to be another way to go about completing his idea.

"Aha!"

The plan came to Sonic like a speeding bullet.

It called for returning inside his tent and retrieving a slip of paper, ink pen, and piece of string. On the paper he wrote a few words, tied it together with the flower, next he looked over at the resting Flash before heading out of his tent. The baby Chao had a reason to be sleeping like a log with the exercising him and Sonic did earlier.

* * *

"Chao!" This tiny voice ran through Sonic's ears. "Chao chao!"

He recognized who this voice was, and felt the series of pushes this person was giving him. "Flash…"

Eyes slowly opened, and Flash could be seen standing right in front of him. "Hey, lil' buddy. Thanks for waking me up," Sonic began to rise from his pillow. "I hope I wasn't out for—too long."

The male hedgehog paused in the middle of his sentence because a familiar person came into view when he looked to his right.

It was Amy, kneeling in front of him with a plate of pancakes and eggs.

"Oh, you made your special strawberry pancakes again? Nice!"

Sonic grabbed his plate as Amy gave it to him, then started cutting his pancakes.

"Everyone says it's became their favorite. So Cream asked if we could throw more strawberries into the pancake mix," Amy smiled, "You do know you were sleep for over an hour?"

"I was?"

He set his fork down and rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. "Well it's a good thing Flash here woke me up. Guess I lost track of time last night."

A series of sweet giggles came from Amy while she smiled.

Sonic wasn't crazy, but there was something he knew for a fact; Amy would only laugh like this when she were trying to hug or stay chasing after him. But this time, it sounded… normal.

"You're not hungry, Sonic?"

Realizing that he'd spaced out, Sonic cleared his mind and spoke up. "Yeah, definitely! Something just came to mind, that's all."

"Well I'm going to let you finish your breakfast. I need to check on Rosey because I asked Cream to watch her for me while I come over here."

"Alright. Talk to you later!"

A new thought came to mind and he was about to part his lips. But was now really the best time to mention 'him' again? She appeared to be in a calm state, and so there wasn't a reason to take that away from the young girl.


	10. Chapter 10

He kept along the dusty trail while studying his exotic surroundings, glancing at each and every creature or flower. It was easy for him to tell daylight hadn't disappeared as its rays poked through the roofs of the trees.

This scenery was like any other jungle or rainforest, but still, Chao Island remained as a new discovery to him. And regardless, he had no choice but to adapt to its environment if he wanted to make transportation.

"Odd… how is it that I've never heard of this place before? I'm certain I did some research," Dr. Eggman put a hand to his chin and wondered deeply.

"There he is!"

"Hm?" Dr. Eggman looked over his shoulder, almost hoping that his ears were playing a trick on him. The scientist didn't make any plans for anyone else to come along; Metal Sonic's arrival had only been used as part of his blackmailing, so Bokkun's appearance was a huge surprise altogether.

Thinking to himself, "You can't be serious," he sure enough found a baby android with sunglasses and two robots coming his way. To show their purpose, they all wore Hawaiian shirts and leis around their necks.

Not only had they surprised him with their attire, but… items for summer vacation lay bundled in their arms and hands.

Just what were these idiots thinking?

"So is this our vacation spot, Doctor?" asked Bocoe.

Docoe looked at every which way with his robot eyes. "I have to say, Dr. Eggman, you really outdid yourself. Just look at how lovely this rainforest is!"

"First one ta' pick our campin' spot is a rotten egg!" a mischievous grin flashed across Bokkun's face, as he and his partners raced past Dr. Eggman and into the further deep of the jungle.

This whole idea of theirs was absolutely ridiculous, and as their sole creator, Dr. Eggman wouldn't stand for it. They had plans to accomplish.

"You crazed buffoons! I didn't come here to spend a vacation, which means none of you will either!"

At this harsh sound of this, Docoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun all dropped their belongings by accident. Their suitcases, beach umbrellas, and towels collapsed to the ground; while the shades on Bokkun's face slightly fell off.

They were so prepared for their summer getaway, but now their master had other plans in mind.

"So you didn't come here ta' vacation?" by how Bokkun spoke, it could be sensed that the young goon was hurt by his leader's decision.

"No! With my newest plan intact, we don't have any time to waste!"

"You came up with a new plan?" Bocoe grew curious.

Dr. Eggman scanned the area for any signs of spies or eavesdroppers, but to no avail saw anyone, so he and his robots huddled in a circle to go over his newly devised scheme.

It'd taken no longer than five minutes to explain. And when they were informed of all the details, Docoe was left impressed.

"Oh, I get it now! So this swallow's intelligence combined with yours could help create the most diabolical scheme ever!"

"Precisely! Now while I finish exploring this jungle, you three look for Sonic and his friends and spy on them. Listen for any thing suspicious or important, is that clear?"

"Yes, Doctor."

With his instructions given out, Dr. Eggman turned on his heel while his minions watched with sheer glum. This wasn't the event they expected to come. Here the robots thought they were getting a chance to relax, but he'd declared otherwise.

Docoe made a sigh as they re-gathered their possessions from the ground. "It doesn't make any sense! His plan is brilliant, but why does it have to clash with ours?"

"Yeah, he never gives us a break. It's just not fair!" Bokkun pouted while adjusting his glasses on his face.

"I hate to interrupt, but I think something is buried underneath this leaf." Bocoe was found stooping down in front of a particular bush. His friends walked over to him and noticed the same clue when they lifted the leaf.

"Hey, there is somethin' buried in the ground. I know! Maybe it's treasure! Let's hurry up and dig!"

"Great idea, Bokkun!" Docoe wasted no time in shoveling the dirt with his hands. Soon Bokkun and Bocoe joined in this treasure hunt, to find a surface with blue and yellow spots colored on it.

"Huh?" Everyone thought out loud.

This mysterious object seemed to be smooth and hard like… like an eggshell.

"This thing isn't treasure! It's just an egg!" Bokkun huffed with a fussy tone. "Why would someone bury an egg?"

"Wait, Bokkun." Docoe ran his finger over the egg for a second time. "I think the Doctor did extensive research on eggs like these. It's no ordinary egg at all."

"Not ordinary? Then what kind is it?" asked Bocoe.

"It's a Chao Egg," the voice of a young male entered the atmosphere.

"Who said that?"

"Me."

This new and accented voice sounded loud and clear, except either robot saw anyone standing in their presence.

"Over here, on the bush," this same male spoke yet again.

The trio couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing. Those words couldn't have come from the butterfly perched on this bush in front of them.

"Y-you can talk?" Bokkun was led into disbelief.

"Of course I can talk. Here, maybe 'this' will help things."

The butterfly fluttered from its spot and transformed before its guests very eyes, becoming a humanoid figure with no problem.

Bokkun and the others found themselves befuddled and left speechless by this character. Since when did butterflies know how to turn into people? It was plain fictional.

"W-wait a sec'! But you were just an insect jus now… and now you're—"

"Yeah, I know, sorry if I scared ya' all. It's just an ability that runs in ma' family. You can all settle down now."

It took longer for them to do so then the butterfly expected, but once they did, they felt more comfortable.

"So… do any of ya' got names or what?"

"Yes, well…" Docoe seemed unsure about getting acquainted. If the Doctor were here, he'd get on their case about not fulfilling the mission he assigned to them. But they came upon the supposed Chao Egg, and then this butterfly showed up, and… well, this was their vacation.

Dr. Eggman would just have to be upset. As the beginning of their vacation, meeting someone along the way was the first step.

"I'm Docoe, and these are my friends, Bocoe, and Bokkun. Who might you be?"

"My name's Icarus. Just your average guy, doin' what he can to survive, ya' know?" And he meant that in a literal way. With the way Amy mistreated him, he felt it better to stay on the island except keep away from the precious rose. It wasn't as if his care for her had died.

"Yes, we understand you completely," answered Bocoe. "Umm, so, what brings you here to this island?"

"I actually came here with a group of friends, but one of them got lost in the jungle somewhere, so I'm just helpin' with the search."

"Then wouldn't you want help with that? We wouldn't mind helpin' you out," Bokkun suggested with thoughtfulness.

"Ohh, nah. I appreciate your kindness, but I kinda' have an idea already of where they could be. S-so, how did you and your friends end up here?"

Their luggage and belongings already answered this question, but Icarus was never great with holding conversations.

Again, things would be an entirely different story if the Doctor was present, but, he wasn't, so…

"We chose this island to spend as our vacation spot. From what we've already seen, it looks like a great place to kick back and relax," Docoe explained.

"Yeah, definitely." Icarus rubbed the back of his head. Thank goodness these robots here had changed the subject. "Just wait til' ya' see its waterfalls. It's a gorgeous sight ta' see!"

"We take your word for it, and we can't wait to also see what the beach is like. Wait, that reminds me… shouldn't someone grab that Chao Egg over there and let it hatch?"

"Huh?" Icarus shifted his eyes towards it for himself. "Oh, right. So that means one of ya' would have to take up as its parent."

Each of the mechanical-trio looked at each other confusedly, then down at the Chao Egg.

They'd never taken position as a parental figure or guardian in their whole lives. Imagining how it could be was scary, and on top of that, their creator fell into the situation.

He certainly wouldn't want another dummy-head to deal with, and the cutesy Chao that'd hatch out of it wouldn't receive any special treatment.

What on earth would they do about it?

"One of us… as parents?" Bokkun cried, "But I'm still just a kid myself!"

"Well, that doesn't give us more of a reason either, you know. Docoe and I here are robots as well." Bocoe remarked.

"Who said bein' a robot changed anything?"

All eyes moved to Icarus when he made this bold statement while silence entered the conversation.

"It's the heart that counts, and placin' that into when ya' take care of em' is what's needed. Without that…" his tone saddened, "You become nothin' but… pushed aside and replaced by somebody else. So that's why it doesn't matter if you're a robot…"

How it felt to be in that situation, Icarus never was far from it when he thought about it.

As they understood the boy's words, each robot also sensed his mood. Docoe chose to speak up on this.

"Whatever is bothering you, is it something that my friends and I can help you with?"

"No, nothin's botherin' me. So, you guys gonna hatch that egg or what?"

"I get the strangest feeling that we should just let it sit there and leave," came in Bocoe's voice.

"Have it your way," Icarus shrugged then returned into his insect form and flew away. "It was nice meetin' all of ya'!"

This guardian of Kamimi's… he had no idea about the mysterious yet respectable influence he'd left on these three new acquaintances of his. What he'd said about taking care of Chao came from no one his true self.

For nothing could Bokkun shake off the way Icarus seemed to be either.

"Somethin' sure is odd about that butterfly. Do you think he knows Sonic?"

"There is a high possibility of that," answered Bocoe.

"You guys…" Docoe interjected as he sat again in front of the Chao egg, "I know what Icarus said was true but maybe we should give it to someone who will take care of it until we find better time."

"But that only leaves Sonic and his friends."

Bokkun and Docoe knew they couldn't say otherwise about this fact. But firstly, they'd need to take this egg from the ground. So they all started shoveling the remains of the dirt with their hands. After about ten seconds they were close to their goal, and then suddenly… a stupefied reaction dawned inside them.

"W-w-what…? What is the meaning of this?" thought Bocoe.

Docoe knew just how his pal felt. "So does this mean someone has already hatched this Chao egg?"

"That's what it looks like," Bokkun held the piece of eggshell and whined. "I was kinda hopin' to see a little guy pop out of it."

"Well, it was our thoughts that counted."

"You are very right about that, Docoe. Whoever is raising that Chao is probably doing a wonderful job like Icarus explained someone should." Bocoe was glad this point was brought up.

"Yeah, there's probably nothin' ta' worry about," Bokkun added then made a sigh. "So, how about we find our campin' spot?"

"But we must spy on Sonic, remember?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, that's what I meant."

* * *

"Now hold on a minute!" Knuckles's bark was loud enough to make everyone hurry towards the bridge where he, Rouge, and their Chao were.

Wonder what those two were arguing about now, everyone couldn't help but wonder.

By now, Wave's back felt a lot better, so she and Dash were up with the gang as well.

"We obviously picked this fruit before you touched it, so go and find your own!"

"No way am I going to walk away when clearly Pearl saw it first!"

"Woah, woah, woah, settle down, guys," Sonic set Flash down and stepped in between the echidna and bat. "Instead of arguing over one piece of fruit, why not just go to another tree? Tails's planted at least seven more."

"But that's not the point! This idiot needs to get it through her skull that she can't punk people around just because she's a girl."

As this remark managed to make Wave and Amy's face curl into a frown, Rouge had heard just enough rude insults.

"Well if I'm such an idiot, then you're a psychopath! Here, go ahead and have your lousy fruit!" The woman shoved the fruit closer towards Spike with her foot and didn't speak after that.

Knuckles had to study the bat's expression to see what she really meant; never did she give anything up unless she got something out of it in the end.

"That's it? You're just giving us the fruit?"

"Well," a sly grin flashed on Rouge's lips, "That, and there's a great deal that came to mind, and I just can't seem to brush it away."

"Oh, great, what's this special deal of yours?" Knuckles gave a sarcastic tone.

"In two days, my Pearl against your Chao, inside the Chao Stadium. If you win, I'll teach your Chao how to fly."

Even with these details, Knuckles kept his suspicions. "And what happens if you win?"

"Then you have to give Pearl one of the Chaos Emeralds as a present."

To think this was really the prize Rouge wanted if she won. Knuckles would make her eat her words, and prepare for Spike to get his flying lessons. Pearl wouldn't have so much as the opportunity to see a Chaos Emerald.

Rouge decided to go elsewhere with Pearl for the time being.

"If I were you, I'd be training your Chao right about now! Make sure our emerald is already polished when you bring it!" she winked playfully and flew away with Pearl flapping beside Rouge with her purple wings.

Everyone watched the aerial pair fly off towards the mountains for passing seconds, then heard Knuckles make a loud, "Hmph!"

"Like they'll ever reach the point that Spike and I are at. Rouge might as well start thinking up how she's going to teach Spike how to fly."

"Heh heh. I gotta hand it to you, Knuckles," Sonic laid a hand on his shoulder, "You and Rouge sure do know how to get competitive! I can't wait to see how this all goes down."

"She's just trying everything she can to make sure Spike's skills don't improve. But we'll show her, won't we Spike?" Knuckles smiled down at Spike while petting the child's head. "So we should get started with our training too."

"Chao!" Spike gave his full agreement.

"Before you do that, there is something that I forgot to mention when I explained about the Chao seeds," Mr. Chao grabbed everyone's attention. "There is what's known as Shape Fruits."

"Shape Fruits?" Storm wondered out loud.

"Yes, and there are three different kinds," explained Mr. Chao, "Triangle Fruit, the fruit of endurance, Square Fruit, the fruit of knowledge, and Round Fruit, the fruit of patience. Each of these fruits carries a very important factor, and so it's up to the guardian what their Chao needs improvement in."

"Well, just to be on the safe side, I think we'll need all three of those Shape Fruits," responded Sonic.

"I think I'll do that too," Big added.

"So, I'm guessing the Chao Kindergarten has the seeds to these fruits?" Wave queried Dr. Chao.

"Yes, so if everyone's ready to go back there, then we can check if the janitor has anymore in stock. I have a huge feeling that he does though," answered Dr. Chao.

* * *

Lunch had been served and eaten, so Amy and Cream had to tidy their campsite up before they would leave.

During all that time, Wave found herself inside her tent, sitting down and gazing at the remains of her melody box. It would've brought a smile to her face to hear its gentle tune play itself again, but there was nothing to worry; soon she would fix this special antique.

"Oh, you're wondering what this box is?" Wave noticed the way Dash stared at her object, with so much curiosity in his little eyes.

"This is the melody box my grandmother used to play for me every night before I went to sleep. It's been years ever since I heard it play, but one of these days I'll get around to fixing it."

"So that's what why Egg-head used that as blackmail," Sonic thought as he listened to this conversation from behind Wave's tent. "That music box means so much to her… and here I thought she didn't have anything that she cared about."

"Sonic?"

"Ames! I-I thought you and Cream were still cleaning up."

He had to turn around and find that 'she'd' found him eavesdropping…

Amy wasn't naive or stupid; her jealous, untrusting tone proved it. "No, it didn't take us that long, and after we finished, we found Flash without 'his owner' watching him."

"Oh, well where is he now?"

"I told Cream to watch him while I look for you."

Sonic was the loser of this talk now. "Look, if you just give me two minutes, I can—"

"Why are you two standing behind my tent?" Wave's hollering shattered their entire conversation.

In no way did Amy feel affected by this interrogation; only, she returned her eyes to Sonic's with filled suspicion. "I saw Flash without his guardian, so I come back here and find Sonic standing next to your tent."

The next thing he knew, Sonic found himself stepping backwards as both females steadily made their way towards him. Sure, he'd survived through adventurous dangers and perils, but these girls… they were a hundred times worse, Rosey and Dash also walking towards him with the same emotions as their caretakers.

"Come on, guys. We're about to go back to the kindergarten and look for the Shape Fruit seeds. Can't we put this small matter behind us? Whadda you say?"

Both Amy and Wave including their Chao did in fact cease their footsteps, and exchanged glances as if they were making a decision in their minds.

This silence managed to put Sonic at more ease, but unfortunately that didn't last for long when mischievous chuckles and smirks came from all of his friends' faces.

"Uhhh…." a sweat drop rolled down the side of his uneasy face. They returned to walking towards him, but this time took faster steps.

* * *

In the depths of a pine scented forest, a lone hedgehog could be seen sitting against one of its trees, and studying the items that a Flicky gave him seconds before.

It'd chirped a few times and held the letter for him to take. In the beginning, the bird worried because he looked hesitant, but since a daisy was included, the hedgehog accepted the gesture, and so the Flicky's assignment was complete.

But what this note had said… "Pretend this is Amy," he didn't understand how he was supposed to follow it. Out of every mission or deed he'd performed, the male never stumped upon a responsibility like this.

More attention lay on the flower more than the brief note. Its petals were perfect, in shape and in color. When he did compare it to Amy, she and this flower did have something in common, he guessed.

As he felt at ease with this beautiful plant between his fingers, Amy's kind aura knew how to put him in just the same manner.

Still, what was this anonymous person who'd sent him the note and this daisy thinking? What had taken place for him to think about how that pink girl was similar like this flower?

"Hmph. Whoever sent me this is very naive." With no hesitance at all, the hedgehog tossed the flower to the ground. "I am no florist or gardener."

He started to walk away while the daisy lay unattended to, but found his feet stopping after not so much time. He'd only taken about eight steps, so what kept him from furthering on?

When the male looked over his shoulder, he easily became fixated on staring at the daisy and never taking his eyes of it; the same way he felt about not minding Amy being in his presence and—

"No!"

It had to end somewhere. He didn't know where, but this flower couldn't lay in his sight. Like it was now, the petals always reminded him of—

"I can't keep that flower," the hedgehog dashed out of the forest as fast as his feet could let him.

This situation was full of nonsense and absurdity the whole time. He didn't know why it didn't appear this way to him before. He had no reasons to think about Amy Rose, or keep a flower as a reminder of her for that matter. They'd exchanged words, went to the Chao Kindergarten together, but Amy acted foolish to include him in a blackmail.

So for what reason did she need to linger in his life? That flower was just a concocted way to get the hedgehog to forgive her for her wrongdoing, and he wasn't convinced.

* * *

"So what was all that stuff about Shape Fruit and Knuckles and Rouge having their Chao fight each other?" asked Bokkun.

"There must be a secret town on this island where we can find our answers," Bocoe answered. "All we need to do is follow Sonic, and we will see for ourselves. Dr. Eggman will be very pleased once we get the details."

Eggman's robots kept a far distance away from his nemesis as they walked along the plains.

Docoe couldn't help but think of how much of a beating Sonic took from Amy and that swallow. Whatever the hedgehog was doing, it'd been very wrong.

Everyone except for Amy and Wave was surprised when they noticed the hammer and wrench marks all over his body.

Sonic gingerly held onto his arm while they headed towards their destination.

It wasn't difficult for Knuckles to realize why his blue friend carried his several injuries.

Rather than talk to Sonic himself, he remained beside Tails and Big.

"Is Sonic going to be alright?" asked Big.

"Yeah, nothing to worry over," Knuckles shrugged, "I told him not to play with Amy's heart, but he didn't listen."

Sonic frowned in annoyance when he heard this. Explaining himself wouldn't do any good, even if he tried.

On the other hand, the discussion he'd wanted to share with Knuckles returned to mind, so he walked over to the echidna and whispered to him.

"Hey, Knuckles. After we come back from the Chao Kindergarten, do you think we could meet in the jungle and talk?"

"Huh? Talk about what?"

Before responding, Sonic looked over at Amy. For the time being, she was chatting with Cream and Ms. Chao, and seemed to be in high spirits; but Sonic wasn't convinced.

"I'll let you know when we get there."

Sonic would have to give more details if he wanted Knuckles to participate with his request. What exactly would they talk about? And why did it have to be far out in the jungle?

Like once before, Amy revealed the key to their destination and put it inside its keyhole. Bokkun, Docoe, Bocoe could believe what they were seeing behind the doors. This 'Chao Kindergarten' may reside in a whole different dimension for all they knew.

"Woah…" thought Bokkun.

"I never expected a portal to be the pathway! Are they going to an actual kindergarten?" exclaimed Docoe.

Amy and Rosey were the first to step into the passageway; the others soon went after before either robot could give another thought.

The doors begin to close as Big, Wally and Froggy were the last to enter.

This startled Bocoe, Docoe, and Bokkun, causing them to sprout up and run after the striped-cat.

"The doors are closing! We need to get inside before they shut us out!" Docoe cried.

Bokkun was in front of the group, carrying his legs as fast as he could. The portal lay close to him, but he lost balance and tripped over a crack in the ground.

"Ow!"

In a hasty manner, both Docoe and Bocoe turned around and found their comrade on the ground with his knee in both hands.

"I think I scraped my knee!" Bokkun whined childishly.

Bocoe looked towards the portal and saw that its doors were almost closed. Time was diminishing. Their one and only chance to attain their leader's command was at stake. Bokkun stayed on the ground while crying over his leg.

Finally, Docoe couldn't take anymore of this climatic moment, so he rushed over to Bokkun and grabbed him into his arms. Bocoe was just glad they could be on their way now, meanwhile… Bokkun was left speechless.

Docoe cared because he helped him from the floor rather than him and Bocoe turn tail and bolt for the portal. This was the first time Bokkun had been treated like this, by anyone.

Before they managed to enter the doors, all he could do was look up at Docoe and wonder how much of a good friend he could in fact be.

* * *

Like Dr. Chao figured, the Chao janitor had plenty of what Sonic and his friends came for.

As one of the few remaining members of the Chao education staff, the janitor was glad to know help to restore their island to normal had come. He missed seeing more faces, whether it was to purchase something from him, or the happy faces of the Chao students that paced through the hallways while he was mopping its floors.

So he'd give the heroes whatever they needed.

After planting their seeds in the most fertile spots they could find, Knuckles and Spike entered the jungle and found Sonic and his Flash standing against a tree.

He'd come just like he were asked, so now Sonic would have all of the explaining to do.

Before words were exchanged, he set Spike down, and Sonic approached him while Flash to Knuckles's Chao.

"Alright, I came here like you asked me. So whatever it's for, make it quick. Spike and I wanna get started on our training as soon as possible."

"Okay, but promise that you won't tell anyone else about this, got it?"

A bit of worry and puzzlement shown on Knuckles's face as Sonic had never asked him to keep a promise.

"Sure."

When Sonic thought back to that day with Amy's unusual behavior, a chill went down his spine. He knew keeping this episode to himself wasn't the wisest choice, but at the same time, he was still perplexed and never figured it out.

"Well… um… yesterday after the battle with Eggman, I went to take some fruit to Rosey because Flash wasn't up for a second piece. And you know how Amy always wears that red outfit of hers. Well this time she had on a totally different style."

"I don't see what this has to do with the point you're trying to make," Knuckles crossed his arms.

"Don't worry, I'm getting there," Sonic cleared his throat. "It just bugged me because Ames never dresses like that, so that's how I knew something about her wasn't right."

Knuckles raised his eyebrow, starting to feel like this discussion was actually going somewhere.

"Remember how you tried to ask Rouge about Shadow? Well, that's why Ames is feeling down."

Now it all made sense, Knuckles thought. No wonder Shadow made that rude outburst when she tried getting him to hold Rosey. Even then, things weren't neutral between the male and female hedgehog.

"So that's what explains it all. We should've figured this out the minute he yelled at her and Rosey!" Knuckles clenched his fists, "Shadow had no right to treat them like that. But there had to be more that went on between those two. What else did she tell you?"

"He came to her job and asked her to bring Maria back from the dead."

A moment of silence found its way after these words came out. Even Knuckles understood how Maria's death affected Shadow.

He kept silent for Sonic to finish his story.

"She really wanted to help him, but said she wasn't that experienced with reviving people. But he kept asking, saying he believed she could do it."

"So that's what started all of this?" Knuckles had to think in a thorough manner. When the echidna thought about it, this whole issue was petty, because if a person said they couldn't do something, there wasn't much that could be done about it.

It was bad enough that someone cold and harsh like Shadow had been the person to ask. Amy was a person who never meant harm and was helpful towards other people.

In the end, it left Shadow with an honest apology to give; this was how Knuckles saw it.

"I'd like to find that jerk and make him apologize, even if I have to let my fists do the talking!" Knuckles raised his fist.

"Uhh… before you go and do that, there's a reason why you shouldn't."

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't pound his face in."

"Well…"

Sonic was growing nervous, and Knuckles could see. He didn't understand why he couldn't go look for Shadow and bring him back.

It was now or never.

"I tried cheering her up, and then all of a sudden… she started thinking that I'm Shadow."


	11. Chapter 11

Shadow...

Knuckles had to think over this name Amy apparently reffered to Sonic with. Did Sonic know what he was saying?

"Shadow? You're telling me that's who she thinks you are now?"

"I know how it sounds, but its the truth. I'm still trying to figure it out myself."

"Well I think I know what it all means."

"Really?"

"You've woken up. You're finally seeing that now Shadow's becoming apart of her world and replacing you at the same time."

"What?" Sonic's face became red.

"No need to be shy, Sonic. We all knew this day would come," a teasing grin played on Knuckles's lips, "Even Tails and Cream can see it and they're both still kids."

"You haven't figured out anything! You're way off base! Amy likes to hang out with me a lot, but that doesn't mean anything's going on!"

"Then why else would she think that? She's not a mental patient."

"Yeah, I know... maybe she just sees a part of me in him."

A statement like this piqued Knuckles's interest.

"Then the question becomes what does she see in him that you have? And I'm sure its something really good," the echidna kept teasing.

"Come on, Knuckles, quit with the jokes already. Besides, anyone can see you and Rouge have something for each other."

"What?" Knuckles fumed, "That bat and I have nothing for each other! Her head's thicker than any of the branches in this jungle! Who wants a girl like that?"

After the echidna made this response, everything grew quiet.

He could be training Spike for their upcoming challenge instead of wasting time quarreling with Sonic here. If the hedgehog didn't want to come to his senses, then that was his fault.

"Come on, Spike. We have to get all the practice we can so we can make Rouge eat her own words."

"Chao!" Spike rose his fist in confidence and began walking after Knuckles, leaving Flash to join Sonic and watch them take off.

Like Knuckle-head would know what to do, Sonic thought.

He still felt better to let Tails in on that situation with Amy, but maybe it was something for the blue hero to handle on his own. He could figure it out by himself, couldn't he?

* * *

"Shadow!"

This was how it all began. Amy noticed him looking down at the big blue planet, seeming emotionless as ever.

"Shadow, we need you! Please help us!"

His concern for the safety of those on that planet down there was supposed to show... but instead he shrugged his shoulders like it wasn't his responsibility.

If this was how he'd felt, then what could there be to say?

"Shadow... I beg of you... please, do it for me... for a better future..."

Maria... this girl was the closest person and had sewn a golden promise into him. And now, her pleading words played in his mind again.

She hadn't been sure what happened, but Amy noticed his face begin to develop more life; as if a realization dawned on him and so he was preparing to move on it.

The Ultimate Lifeform began to remember on that special promise he bonded with his best friend, and now, that was to be passed down to this pink hedgehog standing beside him.

"But," was the only word that could muster inside Amy's mind as Shadow made his way out of the room.

This wasn't something the rosy rascal saw coming.

For once Shadow revealed a side of him no one thought existed. To make this promise was gentle and so kind... and to her of all people. This was the first time anyone made a promise to Amy. To recieve from the Ultimate Lifeform especially made her think twice and realize he did have a warm heart after all; and she liked that.

She would have to get to know it better. She would have to acquaint herself more with this hedgehog who made her feel so important now; like every word she'd convinced him to help them save Earth with mattered and were taken to his heart.

Before, Amy thought he was just a villian who Doctor Eggman managed to recruit and gave orders to. But that perspective had changed now.

Ever since that hectic day, Amy from time to time exchanged a few words with Shadow. Whether they bumped into each other or she tried inviting him to a planned activity with the rest of their friends. As this kept its pace, it made Shadow begin to wonder who this pink girl was.

Someone who often chased Sonic around. Someone who smiled at the face of everything and remained hopeful when others lost their courage. A figure who wasn't the least bit scared of approaching him. That wasn't to say others were afraid. But it differed from Amy because she had that usual bubbly and cheerful personality; traits a lot of people didn't carry.

Everytime the rose stepped into his presence, he was put to ease and found himself not growing annoyed. Time and time again she gave him that soothing encouragement.

Fifty years ago, no one like this existed but Maria."No... I have lost one loved friend already. And I don't intend to suffer a second time."

Amy had no idea about this definite emotion. She kept at opening the lone hedgehog's heart without a clue that he wish not to become so close with her. And it would stay this way until one of them confessed their true feelings.

* * *

Today was the day rivaled treasure hunters waited for; both prepared and trained for the challenge that would take place beyond the door to the Challenge Region.

"I can already see that batgirl going over her lesson plans. She missed out on the Shape Fruits we got from the Black Market, so Spike can't lose!"

"That Knucklehead's going to wish he didnt challenge me. He believes I didn't get news about the Shape Fruit. But Mr. chao was nice enough to tell us before we went to the Challenge Region. I hope that red mutt already has one of the Chaos Emeralds with him. Pearl will be so happy when she wins and gets to see it!"

After heading through the door, Rouge and the gang entered a cave with two possible trails to follow. To their left, explained, was the Chao Karate Dojo. And as exciting as watching Chao duel sounded, right now Rouge had a deal to settle with Knuckles by pitting their Chao against each other in a race.

The obstacle course ran almost throughout its entire vicinity; beyond its cliffs,alongside its waterfalls, in the midst of its trees, and through its dimly it cave.

While Spike and Pearl waited on the track for their race to begin, everyone else stayed on the grass as Mr. Chao was explaining the rules.

"Each Chao must pass through all of the set obstacles in order to reach the finish line. Whoever wins first recieves the official Race Chao Medal. For those not participating, you can watch the race through this television set Dr. Chao is setting up."

Unfortunately for what Mr. Chao just explained, his friend was having trouble as the T.V.'s screen kept staicing and wasn't becoming any clearer. He stood there and kept banging it with his fist, but nothing changed.

"Uhhh," he began with an embarrass tone, "Not to worry, guys! I'm just having some technical difficulties. Soon this T.V. will work."

"Doctor Chao?"

"Hm?" the adult Chao looked and noticed Tails approaching him.

"Could I try to fix it for you? I specialize at tinkering."

"Oh, sure, go right ahead."

Dr. Chao stepped back as he watched the fox grab a hold of the T.V.'s wires. He remembered messing with those before, but nothing happened. So why the screen cleared up now he didn't know, but still was grateful.

Everyone turned their eyes to the television set and noticed its screen was split vertically. So Spike and Pearl stood on each side, appearing to have their backs turned.

"This is a great idea," Big thought out loud, "But how are we able ta' see them?"

"Simple. The bands I put around their necks serve as electronic monitors, so we can always keep a close eye on them."

"That's so neat! I wish Cheese and Choco could also be in the race."

"They'll get their turns soon, Cream," assured Knuckles, "Just as soon as Spike leaves this bat's Chao in the dust."

"Hmph!" Rouge crossed her arms and looked away.

Big was happy to see Wally holding the flag that would signify the racers to start.

The cat-eared Chao smiled himself as he waited for Mr. Chao to begin his part.

Spike turned to look at Pearl i, and in a most surprising way, the female Chao rolled her eyes at him.

What was 'her' problem?

"So does anyone have any questions or comments to make before we start?" Mr. Chao asked.

Not a word came up, so he shifted his eyes to Wally. It was almost time to wave the flag.

"On your mark..."

Spike ignored his challenger and moved into his running stance.

"Get set..."

Rouge and Knuckles's eyes were directly locked on their Chao. They'd made them practice as hard as possible, never accepting doubt or being naive. To them this race meant a lot, so one slip up would end it all.

Wally gripped the pole of his flag.

Everyone grew anxious as they watched both Chao competitors ready themselves. They weren't sure who to cheer for since both rivals were their friends. In the end, Amy figured they were just here to all have fun in it. It wouldn't matter who won and had to get treated to the other's part of the deal.

Though one thing was for sure; Pearl nor Spike would hold any mercy because that's what their guardians taught them. Regardless of how much distance they were away from the other, winning was the most important.

And so the last word to be said... "Go!"

Both Chao sped as soon as the flag was waved, and so the positive cheering began.

"Woooot! Go you two!" shouted Amy.

"Alright, show us what you guys can do!" Sonic added.

"Go, Pearl and Spike!" Cream along with her Chao gave excited smiles.

A cliff soon came into view. Spike had no choice but to leap through the air and climb up the wall. He almost didn't make it, but successfully latched on; whereas Pearl had the liberty of flying over the water and climbing.

Knuckles sighed in relief to see his Chao didn't fall. It was a close one, but he was doing great now. What Rouge didn't know was the exceptional climbing skills he taught Spike, so now Spike was about to pass Pearl with no sweat. So why weren't his friends supporting him?

"Hey, why didn't I hear anyone cheer for Spike?"

"W-we were, silly," Amy stuttered, "Didn't you hear us just now?"

"You can only cheer for one team. And so far it looks like-" Rouge noticed the progress on the television and was left speechless.

"What? But how?"

Knuckles smirked as Spike had already shaken the Chao fruit from the tree and was making his way towards the cave. There was nothing batgirl could say now.

This was nothing like she'd planned. There should'nt have have been any reason why Pearl were still moving the tree in trying to gain its fruit. The Chao was very frustrated and at the point of yelling her anger out.

"Pearl! What are you doing? Shake that tree harder so you can move along already!" Rouge grabbed both sides of the T.V. and began to wobble it.

"M-miss Rouge, please don't do that. Y-you might break it," Dr. Chao mustered to advise. He was afraid of her temper and couldn't hide it.

The bat heard this plea because she backed away and huffed in an angry tone, "That Chao of yours is cheating! That's the only explanation I can come up with."

"What? You're crazy! I taught Spike that cheating is for wimps!"

Instead of making a remark, Rouge placed her sights back on the screen. Pearl had eaten her fruit then continued after Spike, who now was almost at the next obstacle inside the cave; the guessing game.

"Soon Spike will be entering the Guessing Room," informed Mr. Chao.

"The Guessing Room?" Tails asked.

Mr. Chao replied with, "Yes", as Spike could be seen entering a section of the cave that carried assorted fruits, boxes, and... Sonic dolls? What was that last set of items even about?

"Hey! Those dolls look just like you, Sonic," Storm pointed at the screen.

"Well would you look at that. I'm a children's toy now," Sonic chuckled and crossed his arms.

"To be honest, Mr. Chao or I don't know where those came from. The Chao Janitor says he used to sell them through his Black Market, so he let us borrow a few for this race. They're very popular to the infant Chao."

Even with this given explanation, Sonic wondered how this idea came to life. Someone who knew him would've had to have been in charge of this, as they did perfect with his physical appearance.

From this moment on, Cream knew she wanted those for Cheese and Choco. Tails felt about the same with his Chao, and Amy, she seemed to have a different view. It was adorable and plush, but for some odd reason it didn't tingle her girlish senses. Maybe a doll based another hedgehog she knew would do it?

Like the actual Sonic himself, something over the last few days had changed. And as if a routine, a darker hedgehog came to mind again; the last thing she needed while trying to enjoy the day with her friends. She didn't want to think of him as a doll, so why did it cram her mind?

"That's not something you see everyday," added Knuckles, "So what is the objective of this part, Mr. Chao?"

"Each Chao must choose one of those dolls or pieces of fruit and place them in the correct box. A green circle will appear to show they've passed, while a red 'X' will show if they're wrong."

"Hm. That shouldn't be too much for Spike then."

"Pearl can pass that part without having to think!" Rouge boasted with a hand on her waist.

The bat really was trying to upset him, but Knuckles didn't want to waste his breath when Spike was remained in the lead; because she needed a few more things to teach Pearl wasn't his problem.

Spike finally made his way into the Guessing Room and noticed all of what Mister Chao had explained. The rules had already been given to Pearl and him, so the red Chao began heading for a Round Fruit. Meanwhile, Pearl was still on her way inside this area.

Rouge didn't have any doubts that the white Chao would fail at this portion of the challenge. How bad could putting something in its designated container be?

"Alright, Spike!" Knuckles cheered on.

Wave understood just how excited the echidna was for its Chao to move forward, but it didn't take long for her to confirm its future mistake. It wasn't heading for the Round Fruit box at all. And because of this, Pearl would soon be choosing her item. So Knuckles's early celebration resulted to nothing.

"Uhh...no, Spike, not that one. Move to the right." As Spike already couldn't hear this warning, he placed the fruit inside the box meant for the Triangle Fruit and got punched right between his eyes by the jack-in-the-box. His pupils turned into little "x's" as he became unconcscious.

"Oh no!" Cream gasped.

"Aww, Spike. You were only one box away from passing this part," included Amy.

And of course, Pearl had made her way and was now approaching one of the Sonic dolls.

"Hm! Just like I said, she'll get through this with no problem!" Rouge smirked.

How things could've occured like this Knuckles didn't know. He was positive he fed Spike enough Sqaure Fruit. What could've went wrong in the middle of all that?

Rather than bark at Rouge for her arrogant comment, he kept his eyes on the television as Pearl made her way to selecting a container.

Wave knew what the problem had been. It was simple; Spike consumed more Triangle and Round Fruit than Square. Knuckles forgot and instead focused deeper on what he thought would help Spike finish the race in the quickest manner.

So now he was suffering for those choices.

"It seems to me you didn't give the lil' guy enough Square Fruit," Rouge teased Knuckles.

"Butt out of my business! I'm sure I fed him the right amount!"

"Spike's waking up!"

Both echidna and bat quickly hushed themselves as Amy revealed this point.

Spike managed to open his eyelids, get back on his feet and finish running when Pearl set the blue toy inside the corresponding box; the bright circle lighting up as soon as this took place.

Now both racers were tied as they continued along the spiraling path that would lead them outside the cave. For a while Spike stayed in the lead, then other moments Pearl tok charge.

All that was left of the Chao Race was to leap into the large body of water and swim through it to finally reach the goal.

Unlike Sonic, swimming was apart of both treasure hunter's lives, so it was easy to apply that skill to their Chao. The only disadvantage holding Knuckles's Chao back was how Rouge's could land at a farther distance.

Surely practicing all those frontstrokes would pay off.

"Their race is almost finished now, huh?" Sonic thought out loud.

"Yep. Just getting past that lake and running to the finish line," Tails replied.

In due time, Spike arrived at the cliff and without hesitating leapt into the water, only to see his challenger landing a few feet in front of him and start paddling her arms and legs. He unleashed the stamina from within him and began catching up to Pearl in no time flat.

Rouge's eyes popped out of her head when she discovered this. "He's catching up!"

It wasn't like Knuckles didn't know this would happen; all part of his plan.

Feeding Spike a bit more of Triangle and Round Fruit was something he believed could never fail. Stamina and patience was just what the Chao needed. Wisdom was indeed always important too, but when everyone looked at Spike now, he was winning.

By the shocked expression on her face, Pearl was just as astonished as her owner. After two minutes, they reached dry land and steadily made their ways towards the checkered goal tag.

There had to be something Pearl could do. A tactic that would assist her when they were mere seconds away from victory. A mischevious grin shown on her mouth when the lightbulb in her brain turned on.

Before anyone realized it, the white Chao stopped her feet and collapsed to the ground with a false cry.

"Huh?" everyone gasped.

Rouge herself didn't understand what this Chao was doing. This wouldn't do her any good for winning.

"Is Pearl alright...?" questioned Big.

He didn't know how, but Spike sensed his competitor not following after him, so he turned around and noticed the same puzzling situation. Did this mean the Race Chao Medal was already his to recieve?

With concern in her eyes, Amy wondered, "I can't think of any reason why she would just faint like that."

"There 'is' no reason! Pearl, get up and finish the race!" Rouge hollered at the T.V. again.

That collapsing of hers was nothing but an early scheme. Knuckles knew it sounded crazy, but he should've expected something like this from even a Chao who was raised by the bat who was tricky and shady altogether.

He kept silent and waited for his Chao to turn away from Pearl and return to finishing the race.

It was unusual for Pearl to lie there after five minutes, not moving a muscle or saying anything else. Spike couldn't help but wonder even though this was his rival.

Knowing it would disappoint his caretaker, the Chao began walking towards Pearl to check if she would arise.

If Pearl's condition were true, then Spike wouldn't have to worry. He didn't see any reason why she would fake her own predicament. There was yet a chance that this weather's heat could've gotten to her, or she could've used all of her stamina up.

As he neared closer, everyone grew more anxious.

Knuckles clenched his fist while beginning to grit his teeth. Nothing good could arouse out of this, so Spike was making a huge mistake. By now he could already be having the medal placed around his neck.

"Spike, get away from her! It's a trick!"

Saying, "Huh?" in her mind, Rouge looked over to the echidna when he said this. So Pearl's motives were in that manner. Then that was wonderful!

Rouge grinned at the expectance of her Chao's devised plan.

As the worst was expected, Pearl rose from the ground surprising Spike most of all, for she had... planted a big smooch on his cheek.

No one could think of anything to say as Spike blushed from the tender affection.

"Huh?" Amy and the other's widened their eyes at the same time their mouths became agape.

Amy's face flushed magenta with somewhat awe at this cute scene, but where had it come from?"Wow... s-she just kissed him on the cheek like it was nothing."Amy dreamt of the moment she wanted to share with her knight in shining armor, but this... this was plain unreal, especially for infants like this young one they witnessed kiss the other one.

"Oh my!" Cream thought as she, Tails, Big, and all their Chao covered their eyes to keep sight off this intimate action.

"Hmm..." Sonic being a teenager couldn't quite find the right words to say either.

Wave found herself to be disappointed in Pearl. This wasn't the way a girl won herself a trophy, or medal. Just what had Rouge planted inside her head?

Storm managed to say, "Aren't Chao too young to be doing things like that?"

"Of course they are, genius!" Wave remarked with sarcasm.

Spike could do nothing himself but stand there and slowly move his hand to that kissed spot.

Breaking the awkward silence, Rouge shouted, "Go, Pearl! Yeah! Good thinking with that fake collapse!"

Hearing Rouge take favor in this could only mean one thing.

"I knew it!" Knuckles yelled with boiled anger, "You set her up to do this! Who thought a Chao could learn 'everything' from their guardian?"

"Watch what you say to me! I didn't know she had what it took to pull something like 'this'! ... but that still doesn't mean I don't agree with it," Rouge smiled and made Knuckles growl.

The mystery was finally solved. Rouge had put her Chao up to doing whatever it took to win first place, and so in the wierdest way possible, Pearl came up with this idea. Why did Knuckles underestimate them? He never behaved different about anything else Rouge did, but now with this race between their Chao, the Emerald Guardian lost sight and was feeling defeat all over.

And now Pearl was making her way towards the goal. Spike finally woke up from his blushed daze, but saw he had no chance of catching up.

Ms. Chao prepared to present the Race Chao Medal to Pearl as she stepped towards her. While placing it around her neck she spoke, "Umm, congratulations! You won this year's Race Chao Medal."

Watching the stunt Pearl pulled from not so far away kept Ms. Chao from sounding enthusiastic like she were supposed to.

Mr. Chao had to clear his throat as he suffered the same thing.

"Ahem... well... that concludes this year's Chao Race. Pearl wins, and so, err... I hope you all enjoyed watching it."

"You're letting her win?" Knuckles's body towered over Mr. Chao's as this was who he were taking his the rest of his madness out on.

"Well, S-Spike didn't appear to make any attempts after he was left frozen... s-so technically the win goes to Pearl."

"But that was cheating! I demand a rematch!"

"Oh, Knuckie," Rouge walked over to her rival and kept a cool tone, "What's done is done, and you can't go back on our deal, so just hand over your Chaos Emerald so I can give it to Pearl."

"Did you really think I'd hand one of them over to the likes of you?"

"What?"

"You heard me! Even if I wanted to, I couldn't because it belongs with the other six next to the Master Emerald. Without one on the pedestal, Angel Island doesn't stay afloat. So I don't know what to tell you."

Knuckles must've been joking if he thought she would let this slide. She knew herself to use trickery, but this issue Knuckles created was far more worse.

"You two-faced crook!" she grabbed him by the collar of his fur, "You promised my Pearl a Chaos Emerald and now you're going back on your word!"

"Oh yeah? When was the last time you ever made a deal without using trickery?"

"Oh no!"

The atmosphere became mute as these words came from Amy's mouth.

"Amy? Is something wrong?" Sonic looked deep into her eyes for signs.

Rouge let Knuckles free as she grew worried also.

Amy didn't mean to arouse concern in everyone, but this feeling she'd obtained... it felt so full of gloom and danger... a call that couldn't be ignored and needed heroes right away to fix it. This was the first time an emotion like this ever came to her.

Here they were enjoying their day with Spike and Pearl's race, but now trouble was possibly afoot.

"I have a very bad feeling, about Chao Island. Something horrible is going to happen."

"Something bad like what?"

"I don't know. We need to hurry before anything too bad takes place!"

At that instant, everyone darted for this given destination; and of course Knuckles and Rouge went in the opposite direction to get Spike and Pearl. Whatever Amy had meant, they each hoped it wasn't too chaotic.

Then again... Sonic did remember Eggman making those threats...

"Well, Egg-head, we're all ready whenever you are!" the fearless Sonic smirked as they approached the Chao Door.


	12. Chapter 12

As the Sonic Heroes made their way through the door and stepped back to Chao Island, they each felt different about the trouble they were about to face, whether it was fear, worry, or anticipation.

And those same feelings grew bigger when they saw their 'guests' surrounding them. Cream gasped at the size of Egg Robots her little eyes found; there had to be over a hundred of these armed enemies... no, two-hundred, no three-hundred!

Either way, it was too much for the brown rabbit to count.

Amy felt worse as she were also taken aback by this humongous invasion. The pink hedgehog thought to herself, "It's just like I thought... Eggman's cornered us."

"He means business." Sonic clenched his fists while a grin played on his lips. "Well fine by me, Eggman!"

On the other hand, Rouge thought this situation to be pointless. Even at her age the treasure hunter could estimate and say there were over one thousand robots, but nonetheless that answer was incorrect like Cream's.

"Is this how badly he wants that swallow?"

"Grrr! We all got so careless... now we gotta give this battle our all or this island is done for," thought Knuckles.

No one bothered to notice, but the once bluish skies had become gray, and the clouds looked as if they'd had a Thanksgiving dinner and stuffed themselves; soon rain would fall to the earth.

Out of everyone, Wave seemed the most calm. She'd known their egg-shaped foe long enough to know that if necessary he would pull out an enormous army such as they saw now. The amount of Egg Robots showed just how badly he wanted someone with her intelligence to join his side.

"Hm... so my guess was right." After muttering this to herself, the violet swallow pushed a tiny button on the side of her sunglasses. At that same exact moment, a mysterious beeping started to play from inside her tent. Seconds later, a purple Extreme Gear lying inside this shelter began to rise from off the ground as if someone were about to take off on it.

"So, what do you fools think of my army?" Doctor Eggman took this opportunity to boast, "Three-thousand Egg Robots should be enough to unleash my revenge."

Underneath Sonic's grin and confident ego, the world's fastest hedgehog knew he'd have to be extra serious about this gigantic invasion of his nemesis's. It was no stunt like the doctor had pulled out before, so teamwork would be so necessary.

Quickly Big, Cream, Tails, all of the Chao, and adult Chao hurried back towards the Chao Door. Of course they thought Amy should follow, but the rose was first hesitant. There had to be a way she could assist everyone in this hectic time.

Arms folded, Wave wasn't the least bit phased by the amount of robots or what their creator just said. "You know what I think, Eggman?" the swallow revealed her same wrench. Her air board kept its steady pace through the jungle. "Three thousand robots is nowhere near enough."

The second after she said this, her Type-W came towards Eggman and made him spin inside his Egg Mobile like a whirlwind, almost knocking him out of the vehicle. He had to clutch onto the lever just so he wouldn't fall out of it. Once the scientist regained his composure, he demanded in an angry tone, "Don't just stand there! Get that swallow!" As if on routine, the Babylon Rogue leaped onto Type-W when it approached her and sped away from her robotic captors.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge, and Storm lunged towards the Egg Robots with loud battle cries and raised fists. Eggman's soldiers would have to think twice if they thought they could still go after Wave with these four heroes still around.

Occasionally, Sonic curled into a ball and rammed into his enemies while encased in azure light. He took out the machines that came at him with no sweat, destroying about eight or nine at a time, quickly evading the bullets from their plasma guns.

With his spiky gloves, Knuckles jabbed and left every foe who approached him with holes in their chests. His punches weren't to be underestimated. Though if not for his progress with martial arts, then dodging the many gun shots would be more difficult to surpass.

After eliminating the first twenty, more of that same amount stepped towards him with fingers already on their triggers. Nothing but an eager smirk played on the echidna's face as this battle was only the beginning. "Want more? Well come and get it!" The next thing he knew, the red fighter was at it again, rushing towards the robot assault with his brawny fists.

Storm fought in almost the same manner as Knuckles, clobbering oncoming robots with his enormous hands. The albatross knew it was smart for Wave to summon her Extreme Gear, but he was alright.

After dodging a wave of firing bullets, Storm decided now was the best time to pull out his secret weapon.  
"Here I go!" With a mischevious smirk curling his beak, the feathered giant spread his arms out and in the nick of time clapped his hands, sending a gust full of air at his enemies. Their guns fell out of their hands while they were all pushed away like pins being knocked by a bowling ball.

Rouge threw what laid in her palms and watched as the fake jewels exploded on her opponents. It was like watching fireworks. And the part that topped it off was that they weren't her real diamonds and rubies.

Because the Eggman's creations couldn't see through the thick gray dust from the explosion, they didn't know the sneaky bat was preparing to send a piercing Screw Kick at them. But of course, it was too late, as she made her way at them.

The manner in which the Sonic Heroes fought against their enemy's soldiers was smart, but after so long, ther bodies called for rest. Robots kept coming, and it seemed like it would never end.

Instead of staying inside the door, Amy spectated this seemingly potential defeat and gasped at the way each of her friends were being surrounded by their challengers. She knew it was unlike anything they ever had to face before. This couldn't have been the end for them...

So an inside voice hurried the female to close her eyes, put her hands together, and start muttering with a pleading tone. Maybe then she could feel resourceful to the rest of the Sonic Heroes as more and more robots came at them.

* * *

Wave kept through the exotic jungle on her Type-W with about four or five robots chasing after her by utilizing their jet thrusters. Time after time, she had to evade the shots from their ray guns, moving back and forth, sometimes doing short jumps. As the swallow believed her plan had worked out, Jet came to mind. He could've been anywhere doing anything but at this very moment he came to her thoughts.

Thinking about the younger rogue caused Wave to lose balance with her dodging and get hit by one of the Egg Robot's plasma bullets, and so her board took on the damage, sending her off it and to the ground.

When she got up, now her captors were surrounding her, all ready to fire another batch of blazing energy in case she tried to move. They 'would' carry out the objective their creator gave them; this swallow was encircled and outnumbered.

After so much silence, the robotic team started to clutch her by the arms, however a whirlwind came forth and separated them, keeping Wave sealed. None of the robots understood how or where this came from, except that when it faded, their target was gone.

All Wave could feel was her whole self be pulled by a mysterious force and up towards a nearby tree. A cool breeze engulfed her the entire time, so the bird knew that wind was carrying her.

The gust of air gently set her down on the branch, then perched in front of her and magically revealed a familiar rogue with green feathers.

They didn't seem to notice Wave's surprised expression, but was stopped by her when she yelled out, "Wait!"

Wave looked into his eyes and could see how intent he was on hurrying to leave. But why had he returned to begin with?

"Why did you come back? I thought you were finished when you didn't find the precious treasure."

"Well... I-I can't do it by myself," Jet replied with a flat tone.

After this remark, the conversation seemingly grew quiet. Wave didn't expect her boss to be emotional, so the way he'd responded wasn't surprising; though in her mind she thanked him.

Returning his mind to jumping off the branch, Jet noticed his friend begin to make the same move. "Where are you going?"

"To go fight," Wave answered with a definite tone, "I can't just sit and do nothing."

"Well you're not gonna get anywhere without this."

Jet revealed his Type-J before Wave could reply. She stared at his green and white board then grinned.

Because the Extreme Gear mechanic had designed this tool, she knew utilizing it was the smartest motive to take right now.

Her enemies wouldn't waste any time in shooting her or Jet down from the branch, so each bird exchanged mischievous grins. Next Jet grabbed Wave's hand, dropped his board, then landed on the gear once it touched the ground and sped off in a green flash.

* * *

Just as the heroes were still noticed on the battlefield... just as they continued standing in defense the best they could, an explosion occurred in it's dangerous mist.

Different robots were knocked back by this power while others became disintegrated; the cause of this appeared once it's dark smoke faded away; a shadowy hedgehog with red stripes and soft looking patch of fur on his chest was the one who stood there with fists clenched and eyes searching for oncoming assaults.

For this challenge, Eggman's robots grew hesitant. Anyone who wasn't fighting for the same cause was an obvious enemy, but this black hedgehog's power was incredible.

Sonic took his chance to glance over at his rival with a tiny simple plastered on his lips. The help he gave them came just in time and was considered. Without the Ultimate Lifeform to assist, Sonic nor the others knew what their fight would lead to.

In the middle of her combat, Rouge too became distracted with their newly arrived comrade. From what she knew, he was supposed to be somewhere else, but now he'd returned out of nowhere... almost as if someone had contacted him.

Pretty mysterious.

Shadow realized there were more robots than anyone one of the Sonic Heroes could handle without help, so as more machines sent their plasma shots at him, he evaded their futile attempts and responded with golden Chaos Spears. Each weapon of light hit its target, leaving their circuits fried and unused guns on the ground. Shadow was like the almighty Zeus as he threw every spear at his opponents with such fierceness and brutality.  
It was a pattern that Eggman would've became infuriated seeing, however the mustached villain had other plans and vanished from the battle area.

* * *

At such magnificent speeds, oncoming trees and bushes appeared like nothing more but flashes of brown and green. Letting go for even a second would be asking to get hurt.

Wave knew she had to hold on tightly to the Legendary Air Rider as they kept on through the thick vegetation. Escaping from the Egg Robots wasn't geting any easier as they turned their jet thrusters onto full power. The flames spewing out covered the entire part of their backs.

Maybe they weren't giving Wave a break, but regardless she felt her plan of moving away from the larger crowd of robots was a great idea. She was the reason they came, and so most likely moving away would make Eggman distracted with Sonic and the others.

So because Wave was the cause of this surprise attack, a bright streak rushed at them and broke her grip on Jet. During the milliseconds of this fast-paced occurrence, Jet could feel the absence of arms that once bonded around his waist; Wave didn't have even the chance to call for Jet's aid as he obviously became more than an earshot's distance away from her. Only the shocked voice in her mind had time to yell out, "Jet!" as she flew towards a tree stump.

Jet hurried with changing his direction while Wave picked her dirtied face up from the jungle floor. Who did this and where had they came from?

By the time she got to her feet, Sonic's metal counterpart was before her with its piercing, glowing eyes. His appearance should have been expected, but Wave didn't think about it.

"You again!"

Either way, the inventor had dealt with enough of Metal Sonic, and his creator's motives for that matter.

Narrowing her cobalt eyes, Wave spoke to her foe, "Look heap of metal! You can go back and tell your master that I'm that I'm not going with him! Get lost or I'll have to take you apart!" Moments later the swallow revealed her wrench, and so Metal Sonic's claws sparked in response.

Enough was enough.

* * *

The Egg Robots' steady approach only left Shadow eager to destroy more of their foolish kind. Amy couldn't explain how relieved and happy she was that Shadow answered her call. The field was being cleared of Eggman's minions like leaves being swept by the wind.

There wasn't anything that stated the rest of Amy's friends were doing their best, so Sonic, Rouge, Knuckles, and Storm pushed aside all tiredness and doubt and put more effort into their punches. This brawl would be over soon, and it would be because they took their strengths to its fullest extent.

Amy grew excited with watching this battle once she realized who was winning, but the pink hedgegirl's thoughts shifted into a different direction.

Having felt a cautious feeling in her heart, Amy approached her campsite to find a large robot clumsily stepping on everyone's tents and on the campfire. After how destroyed it all looked, everyone's belongings had to be messed up, Amy knew it. But the question was, "Why is this robot destroying our campsite?"

The answer came when Amy looked up at the giant's face and noticed three familiar robot's.

"Hey!"

After pausing their machine's footsteps, Docoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun all gazed down at their acquainted foe with fearful expressions.

Eggman had trusted them with the robot they were in and asked that they also enter the battlefield, but the controls on moving the invention weren't that simple. After crumbling the tents and wood was when they realized they finally got the hang of it. But did Amy care?

"Look what you did to my campsite!"

Just by the tone in her voice, they immediately stooped down and tried to fix everything by piling up the remains of the campfire as if for approval. Then Amy saw the robot's mouth curl into a smile.

Too bad.

"Uhh, wait! We have a reason for this!" they tried to reason.

"I'll teach you what happens when you destroy someone else's property!" Amy revealed her Piko Piko Hammer, her whole body became engulfed in red energy, and her eyes blazed with fire.

In a matter of seconds, the rose leaped up high to where their machine's face was and clobbered it with her weapon so powerfully, that it flew into the air like an object flies from a catapult. And the screams of Eggman's hopeless goons sounded the entire time.

"Looks like we're blasting off again!"

When Amy landed the grassy floor, she landed with elegance; satisfied that those robots were now taken care of and recieved just the sort of  
beating they deserved. It was never smart to push a girl's buttons, but it was worse to push hers.

"Chao chao, chao chao chao!"

"Rosey?"

To the rosy rascal's surprise, she found her Chao flying towards her with a worried face. The baby left her guardian confused, but only continued on with arms open to embrace her.

"Rosey!" Amy dropped her hammer and accepted Rosey's hug, listening to the Chao whimper her feelings out. She always wanted to stay by Amy's side, even if it meant danger. Amy wanted her to be out of harm's way, but now it seemed her longing was stronger than her fears.

"Why did you follow me? You could've been noticed by one of those mean robots," Amy explained with gentleness in her voice.

"Chao..."

Amy could look into her eyes and see how sorry she was. "Awww, well don't worry. I'm just glad you're safe now." The hedgehog retrieved her hammer with one hand and still carried Rosey in the other. "Now why don't we hurry back to the others and cheer them on for the battle?"

Rosey agreed with this so much that she chirped with a sweet grin; only happy to see her owner was alright and not injured.

* * *

Time after time, Wave's challenger dodged her strikes. His speed helped him to evade her different attempts as if she weren't really trying.

Sooner or later she would have to lay a hit on him; with Jet still being absent, the swallow had no other choice. Thinking of the green bird, Metal Sonic almost had the opportunity to sink his deathly claws into Wave's chest, but she managed to use her wrench as a shield.

So their action came to a halt.

Wave clenched her teeth as she tried pushing the android's claws away. It meant putting everything she had into this, as he only pushed back.

Metal Sonic wasn't going to stop; and niether was Eggman, who'd suddenly appeared beside this quiet duel with words prepared to give. His same robots chasing after Wave were instructed to not attack; Metal Sonic didn't need any help.

"This fight can easily be avoided, Wave. Just say that you will become my right-hand accomplice and help me begin my Eggman Empire."

The rogue wished she could zip Dr. Eggman's lips shut.

"All it takes is your full allegiance. I wouldn't have went through all of this if I didn't know you could benefit my plans."

Along with Sonic's twin's actions, Eggman's nonsense talking was seemed endless as well.

Wave wanted both the talking and conflict to disappear.

Sweat beaded and ran down the sides of her face while her arm muscles began to grow sore.

Eggman awaited her answer with a cunning smirk while Metal's hands moved closer and closer. The clock ticked probably faster than Wave felt it did. She needed a plan and to enforce one fast.

He didn't mind waiting as his servant kept the advantage, but Eggman raised his eyebrow when Metal Sonic appeared to turn his head and look at something.

"Hm?" Eggman tried to see for himself, and discovered a green flash almost running into his minion.

Jet figured the hedgehog-looking machine wouldn't let himself get attacked.

Wave sighed in relief as she'd knelt down to regain her composure. It was about time he showed up, she thought.

Instead of facing Wave, Metal Sonic stood before Jet with the intention of annihilating him. He'd interrupted Eggman's orders.

"Hohoho! Well, if it isn't Jet the Hawk! You've made a terrible mistake by interrupting this fight. I hope you're ready to meet  
your end, feather boy!"

Jet only folded his arms and smirked in response. "You shouldn't be so confident about your robot, Eggman. I know how to take him apart with just  
my fists!"

"Ha! We'll see about that! Why don't you just try?"

While no one looked, Wave got up and began to hide herself within nearby bushes. If Eggman was so distracted by Jet's boasting, then chances were he'd forget about capturing her and she could come up with another plan.  
Eggman would show Jet that he was not to be underestimated.

Having found a spot to hide, Wave peeked through leaves and noticed everyone just standing still.

That same arrogant smirk was on Jet's beak, while Metal Sonic raised his electricity sparked fists.

For the strangest reason though, Doctor Eggman felt a cold drop hit his nose. Then Wave could honestly say she felt something wet land on her face also.

Jet himself realized it was raining, and out of nowhere found sparks flying from... Metal Sonic? It looked as if the raindrops were stealing his power; the robotic villian collapsed to one knee as more water tampered with his insides. There was no way his battery could surive when the rain still seeped though the roofs of every tree. In the end, his eyes lost their light and he turned off like a light bulb.

"Seriously? Your IQ is three hundred but you don't think to make your creations water proof?" Both Eggman and Jet turned to find the purple swallow who made this comment appearing from inside a bush. After giving her statement, Wave started to laugh. Then Jet came to the deep understanding of it all and joined in the humor.

The way Metal Sonic lost this fight really was ridiculous when they thought about it. And Eggman felt defeated at the same time. It had to be some kind of joke for the weather to bring rain when his robot was about to reign surpreme. And now he had to listen to these pathetic bird brains cackle over it.

This has gone too far, the scientist, thought.

"Go ahead and laugh now, while you still can!" He started to hover up in his Egg Mobile, "I 'will' have my revenge, and you, Wave the Swallow!"

The duo being referred to only stopped their laughing and watched their foe retreat into the air, hearing him finish with, "This isn't the end!"

For the time being, it was the end, and the next Eggman came, he would lose again.  
Jet sighed as he had to breath from his excessive laughing. "Glad that chump is gone," the hawk thought out loud with a hand on his waist, "But there's still something I don't get."

"What's that?"

"Why would he wanna kidnap 'you'?"

In the manner Jet said this, a frown emerged on Wave's face. It wasn't that she wanted to be kidnapped, but Jet had spoken as if she weren't worthy of anything at all.  
But rather than let Jet see her true reaction, the inventor remarked with sarcasm, "So I could become his 'right-hand assistant'."

Boss!"

Wave and Jet turned to the sound of this voice as the person approached them.

"But I thought you didn't like this place," continued Storm, walking up to Jet.

"I just came back to try convincing you guys to leave. There's nothing here worth nabbing."

"Well I hate to mess with your plan but I'm staying here a little longer. As for Storm, you should ask him what he's gonna do," Wave declared.

"Yeah... um," Storm began to rub his head sheepishly, "I was thinkin' about it, and I wanna stay here too. It's not that bad when you get used to it."

After everything he'd said...

"Well... if it's keeping you two here... then I guess I'll give it a chance," Jet crossed his arms and looked away.

When it came to how glad this response made Wave feel, Jet wouldn't know; and he'd never get to because she smiled on the inside. Six years was indeed a long time to know this dummyhead...and it was a long time for him to come to the place of remembering her promise to stay, but now he'd fully decided. And the ex-princess was just fine with that.  
Only the rain could be heard pattering as she and Storm kept their tiny smiles locked on their leader. For them, this was the mark of a new beginning. It didn't mean they would stop treasure hunting, but to get away from all that and help restore Chao Island like Wave was requested to do was treasure hunt in itself.

* * *

"Phew! This mess is going to take forever to clean up." Rouge kicked a robot hand away from her while she studied the rest of the scraps taking over a large space of land.

The amount of Egg Robots they faced was no joke, and without Shadow to come to the rescue, they would probably be done for; Rouge wasn't egotistical to the point where she couldn't admit that.

Mr. Chao flew towards the bat woman, then landed beside her and said, "Not to worry. I'm sure you all are still fatigued from fighting, so we can worry about cleaning it up later."

"Look at that, Froggy that's what three thousand robots look like!" Big showed his pal by pointing with his giant finger.

While Big and the other heroes talked amongst each other about the war that just took place, it's hero who should be most congratulated stood away from them. It wasn't abnormal, but Sonic for one had things on his mind to share with the darker hedgehog.

"Heya, buddy! Thanks for helping us out with this robot invasion!"

As Sonic laid his hand on Shadow's shoulder, it was immediately brushed off.

"No need to thank me."

The loner began walking away, however a more cheerful statement came his way.

"Shadow! I'm so glad you came. We were almost on the verge of losing, until you showed up and helped take care of those robots."

A smile was visible on Amy's face, but it vanished when she found a small frown on Shadow's face. Why wasn't he relieved just as they were?

"How were you able to telepathically contact me?"

The atmosphere became dead silent when this question was brought up.

"Telepathy?" Sonic looked over at Amy for the answer possibly being in her eyes. It wasn't normal for her to have the ability of talking through minds. She must've been the one who called for his help, but how she did it was a mystery he wanted to solve.

Before anyone knew it, the rest of their friends began to crowd around them. Mainly Knuckles and Rouge would find out what had been and what was going on between these hedgehogs to begin with.

Amy could feel the pressure and exposure hitting her. She shifted her eyes towards all her friends and saw how curious they'd became. Everyone would want to hear the words from her mouth. Rosey could feel her emotions and started to grow nervous while she rested in her arms.

"Well... if you must know, it was because of the promise... you remember, back on the ARK when you promised Maria you would save us all. You made that to me too."

The eyes of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge became huge when they heard this brief answer. They had no idea Amy and Shadow spent time together while they were dealing with the ARK mayhem. And when they had, 'Shadow' of all people made a promise to her...?

Amy could feel her cheeks become hot as things grew silent again. Shadow's eyes were closed as he placed his mind on that fateful day...

Earth as they knew it was close to ceasing to exist, but while he gazed down at them through that glass window, Amy stepped in and gave the Ultimate Lifeform some encouraging words; words that Maria would say. And so he had next declared to keep the promise for Maria's sake, then unconsciously brought Amy into the circle.

With this retrieved memory, he could do nothing but conclude, "Hm... well that's all I needed to know."

He didn't have trouble making his Chaos Emerald appear before him and hold it above his head.

"Huh? Wait, why are you leaving?"

Her concerned yet soft voice froze him from starting his teleportation. "I've kept my end of the promise by saving you all from the Doctor's robots. I have no other reason to -"

Before Shadow could finish his sentence, a blue glow overtook Amy's entire body, removed Rosey from her hold, then pulled the preteen away from her friends and into the air. She would've screamed or broke free, but this mysterious energy kept her paralyzed.  
Rosey cried for her parental figure but the pink hegdehog never came back down. In fact, she couldn't at all since she moved towards a... a black butterfly?

"Icarus!" Rouge wasn't stupid about this.


	13. Chapter 13

"No...! This doesn't make sense," Amy thought to herself, "I... I can't move at all, or talk!"

The others learned who Amy's captor was when they morphed into their anthropomorphic form.

Amy's next reaction became, "Icarus!" She turned her eyes to the butterfly and found him smiling, then fell into his clutches like a bride in her groom's arms.

"It's you again!" Sonic glared up at their new guest.

Rouge added, "I knew you hadn't left this island for good, you selfish creep!"

"What makes you think you can just show up and steal our friend away?" Knuckles barked in agreement.

"'Your' friend?" Icarus remarked with sarcasm, "Have ya' ever wondered if maybe she's ma' friend too? She's the first real friend ah've had in eight years!"

Everyone stayed quiet as they listened to this saddening tale. Icarus was very emotional, they could tell.

"No one else taught me how ta' smile, or how ta' get up after bein' knocked down. Miss Rose was the only person who taught me these things! Ever since she began workin' at Kamimi's shop, my life has takin' a turn for the better, so ah'm not about ta' let any of you take that away from me!"

As the freezing rain kept pouring down from the heavens, thunder started to roar while lightning played a role and struck across the skies.

None of Amy's friends expected Icarus to have a backstory like this. They could each recall feeling alone and needing someone to talk to, or knowing who it was they could depend on. But as honest as Icarus was, he couldn't accomplish things this way.

"Even if what you say is true, you have to let Amy think for herself!" Rouge fussed, "Let her decide what she wants to do!"

"Because ah' thought ah' could sit back n' watch, now she's confused about this 'Shadow' person!"

Not for anything did Shadow like this statement of the butterfly's. His name wasn't something to think little of, or keep using with a sarcastic tone. He wasn't just Shadow, but the Ultimate Lifeform altogether.

With enough said, Icarus turned and flew away with Amy. Because of the rain, he couldn't notice the salty tears running down her cheeks.

"Amy!" Cream yelled out.

Almost everyone's Chao started to cry as well as their friend was being taken away. Ms. Chao went up Rosey and comfortingly hugged the young Chao, letting her cry on her shoulder. Even she knew Icarus wasn't the brightest light bulb. He was crazy the moment he tried to kidnap her.

As Sonic was the person always disrespected, he decided it was time to give Icarus a piece of his mind; with his fists doing the talking. "I've had enough of that guy!"

But before the angered hedgehog could dash away, a gloved palm stopped him by touching his shoulder.

"Why don't we let Shadow be the hero this time?"

Sonic had trouble thinking this idea through, but in the end, he accepted Rouge's idea and stayed still. He knew Shadow wouldn't let Icarus flee with Amy.

After Rouge took her eyes off Sonic, she ended up turning them towards Shadow. "Hey! What are you still here for? You have a girl to save!"

"Says who?" Shadow snorted with defiance.

Rouge sighed before she responded. "Don't you get it, Shadow? She's in love with you, but scared to admit it because you won't let go of the past."

Love? What was Rouge saying?

Shadow didn't have time to be listening to this foolishness.

The Ultimate Lifeform turned his back on Rouge and crossed his arms.

"Her and me letting go of my past having nothing to do with each other. If she has unfinished business with that butterfly, then who am I to get in the middle of it?"

"Remember that note you were given by that Flicky?" This coincidental query of Sonic's made Shadow look over his shoulder and raise his eyebrow. By the sound of this, it sound like Sonic were the one responsible for it, and now trying to use it against him like propaganda.

"Whatever happened to the note that came along with it?" Sonic continued.

"That's not for me to be concerned about."

Sonic for one knew he cared for Amy too much to let anything happen to her, so he placed a lot of emotion into what he said next. "Well if that flower withers and dies, do you want the same thing to happen to Amy?"

For a few minutes, the atmosphere was silent. Shadow actually took time to think over what his rival was saying. He couldn't deny that Amy's presence changed things. He 'did' care for her well being... and there was the matter of making Maria's promise with her also.

Once a flower passed away, it never did reain it's natural beauty. Even now, Shadow couldn't understand why he thought of Amy when he studied that white sunflower.

But there was no time to lose.

The dark hedgehog performed Chaos Control without saying goodbye, leaving each and every one of his pals relieved that he decided to hear them out.

Knuckles and Rouge never could deny the connection between Amy and Shadow. They knew and always acknowledged that a spark existed. Maybe Shadow didn't admit it, but still... and now he was going to be Amy's knight in shining armor by upholding their promise.

Nothing about the weather changed except the rain were pouring down much harder. Hearing the lightning and thunder yell across the skies only reminded Amy of how terrible this day turned out to be. But she knew help would come.

Icarus was out of his mind for stealing her away from her friends... away from her vacation!

If not for Icarus's magic, she would've already pulverized the insect and probably made him drop her.

"Ya' know what? Maybe this whole time you didn't need a vacation," Icarus stated, "Instead... I just needed ta' comfort you."

Icarus thought he was being sweet by wiping the rose's tears, but her mind became filled with disatisfaction and anger. He didn't deserve to wipe her tears now; not when he always disrespected Sonic, had the wrong idea about their friendship, and grew jealous over Shadow. Altogether it was too much.

"Before ya' know it, we'll be back home and we can put all this mess behind us!"

All of a sudden, Icarus grunted in pain and started to descend.

Righteousness was on it's way.

Expecting his assaulter to be 'Blue boy', Icarus prepared himself for whatever the hero dished out. It was now or never to unleash all the dislike he had for him.

With his left wing damaged, Icarus knew it wouldn't be so much easy, but he would still put up a fight.

When he finally hit the ground, Amy was locked safe in his arms. She was helplessly overwhelemed at the fact that he let himself fall while she were safe on top of him; but cleared her thoughts. "I can't be thinking about that! He still made me angry."

After Icarus stood up, he looked at Amy to see that she was okay. This were most important, and now he'd have to put his mind on the upcoming battle.

It wouldn't take long for Sonic to-

"What?"

Icarus had suffered enough with coming face-to-face with this 'Shadow' character. For some reason, he appeared and not Sonic, but Icarus figured, "Whatever!"

"You never quit, do ya? Miss Rose doesn't belong with you!" Icarus guarded Amy and raised his fists.

"Release her or I'll ruin your other wing!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

Shadow didn't mind annhilating this new foe of his. He'd disturbed them all with his ridiclous attempt of kidnapping Amy. And there was the time before when he came at him in a foul manner inside the jungle. Besides that, he was keeping the promise.

Icarus's fists became engulfed with fire while Shadow's with red Chaos energy. From the ground, Amy could see these two were intent on killing each other.

"This blue glow is still keeping me from moving! I have to stop them from fighting before one of them gets badly hurt!" Tears rolled down Amy's face as it seemed like the only reaction she could make happen.

Icarus couldn't waste anymore just glaring at Shadow, therefore with one full wing he lunged towards the hedgehog; though was immediately thrown back. Shadow knocked him down, so no matter; he would simply get up and try again.

But the hedgehog remained frozen as an orb of light originated before between them. It illuminated the entire area they were standing in, maybe so much for Sonic and the others to notice.

"It's the same light from before!" Shadow thought to himself.

Amy managed to take in this bright surprise as well, and Icarus was left speechless.

Soon everyone had to cover their eyes as the light shined brighter; Icarus made sure to cover Amy's along with his. "Don't worry, Miss Rose!"

This very same light Shadow witnessed before must've decided to place an oracle on him and the whole idea made sense. So now he would have to interrogate and learn of why it did so.

After he uncovered his eyes, the light's spot was replaced by a womanly figure dressed in a dark cloak.

"Kamimi!" Icarus put his guard down, "W-what are you doin' here?"

The individual known as Kamimi unveiled her hood to reveal her face, giving Shadow one of the answers he solely needed. So this 'Kamimi' had the ability to turn herself into light and transport people.

He kept silent as the wizard waved green sparkles over Amy and removed Icarus's spell.

It felt so great to be able to move her arms and legs again; more importantly to talk.

Now free, Amy had a lot of things to say but didn't know where to start as the situation moved so fast.

Kamimi looked around at everyone as she confirmed, "I see this test of mine worked out better than I expected."

"What are you talking about?" interjected Shadow.

Since it was the striped hedgehog who responded, Kamimi turned to face him. "If I brought Amy and her friends to an island that was in danger of perishing, then that would show me where her heart was."

Finally Amy spoke up, "I don't understand."

When Kamimi thought about it, the older girl always liked Amy's innocent nature. She was a caring, helpful young girl, which helped lead Kamimi to smile and know what to say next. First though, the fox walked towards her student then cupped her face into her hands like a gentle mother.

"You enjoy fortune telling, but your passion is being here, to help the Chao repopulate and get their island back in good shape. You've grown up a lot since you first came here, and now your Chao is about to become a full-fledged adult." Kamimi smiled a second time, bringing out a cutesy one from Amy.

Next she removed her hands from her face.

After both listening, Shadow and Icarus could admit that Amy had matured ever since she came to this island. She'd learned how to better put others before herself. She'd learned how to be a leader and shower others with encouragement. And most of all, she'd learned how to treat the very person she loved.

"So to help you out, you can't be my underling anymore."

"Oh..." a sweatdrop formed on Amy's face, "S-so, you saw that your Reina's Powder had been used up?"

"Yep. Your intentions were good, but you weren't at that level to be using it."

There was enough touching phrases to be exchanged. What about the answers Shadow wanted for why 'he' was brought into this 'test'?

"Enough chit chat! If you wished to put your underling thorough a test, how do I get included?"

When it came to feeding Shadow answers, a slight chuckle escaped Kamimi's lips. "Shadow, Shadow, Shadow..." the wizard walked up to the hegehog, "By now I thought 'you'd' understand what's going on. It's time you forgave Amy already. Don't you think she knew resurrecting your friend was more than she could handle? But you didn't care. You only thought about yourself and didn't bother recognizing her love for you."

Here someone else went with this love nonsense again.

"You can't pretend something's not there when everyone else sees it crystal clear," Kamimi went further into detail.

Amy hadn't openly admitted it, and Shadow obviously believed it to be false; so Kamimi knew what she was doing by the words she'd chosen.

First Amy set her eyes on Shadow, then eventually he looked to her, but with a hint of irritation. They both knew the caring feelings that welled inside them for each other. And they both knew that if something happened to the other, they wouldn't feel the same. The others had figured this out, and so there was nothing to be unchanged about that.

Shadow didn't think as much about the 'love' idea, but it was what his actions expression; and so being stubborn, he didn't realize that's what showed.

"So you're just lettin' her go?" asked Icarus.

Kamimi faced the younger wizard with a serious face. "As for you, Icarus..."

The purple fox raised her hands and sent a wave of energy towards Icarus, which then engulfed the butterfly and made him gasp. After that, he felt like a normal human being.

"Kamimi...!"

"Until you learn how to respect other people's decisions, you're going to have to find a new job."

"What? But ah' don't have experience with anythin' but magic!"

"Well that's not my problem."

Icarus couldn't believe what was happening. If anything, he should've been recieving the credit and attention; something he'd only wanted from Amy. 'He' was the one who led her to this island. What about his inputs? And now his powers were being taken away?

What a vacation this had turned out to be, he thought in early despair.

"Well, farewell you two!" As a bright orange circle appeared and started to glow underneath Kamimi, she waved to Amy and Shadow and took Icarus by the hand, astonishing him greatly.

Amy was inflicted by the idea of losing her job, but on the flipside... it didn't wasn't 'that' disappointing. It was just like Kamimi said. Now she could do what she loved and be with the people she cared about.

"Bye, Kamimi! And thanks for everything! This doesn't mean I won't visit you!" Amy gave her ex-mentor a smile so huge it brought tears to Kamimi's face. The rosy rascal was finally growing up, and so much happiness and joy laid before her in the near future. Kamimi would never forget her kind and pure heartedness.

"Until we meet again then!" Kamimi would've said more, but because she didn't want Amy to see her cry, she and Icarus vanished as the light brightened and made everyone cover their eyes.

The raindrops from above hadn't stopped drizzling. It wasn't important when there was action and talking going on, but now Amy and Shadow needed to hurry back to their friends.

No conversation arose as the pair started on their way back, until Amy cleared her throat. "After we return to the others, are you staying?"

"It was never my intention to stay here. I only came to keep your promise."

Shadow felt he'd gotten his point across, however the black male stopped walking as he felt a damp pair of hands grab his. Then he noticed Amy's worried look.

"Please, just listen to what I'm about to say." He could sense how honest the rose was being, so he gave his attention.

"I know I messed things up with trying to bring Maria back, but I really did try the best I could. She meant a lot to you... so I understand if you're still upset with me."

In all truth, Shadow 'could' say he was angered with what ended up happening. Having the closest person to him come back to life was something he were willing to do anything for. But Amy... Amy was and had been the only person who acknowledged the friendship between him and Maria.

This was the first time Shadow witnessed Amy confess her mistakes about anything; to see it was about Maria made him realize how sorry she truly was.

She never had been a person who meant harm. If anything, she expressed the most care to Shadow more than anyone else he knew. But because the anti-hero let all the anguish and hate from fifty years ago devour him, he thought giving himself a second chance to let others inside his life would only leave him with more scars.

A depressive mood remained inside Amy as Shadow thought these realizations through. "You've done all you can."

"Huh?" Amy didn't hear the words from her friend's mouth, but soon him forming a small smile on his lips explained it all.

"Maria wouldn't want me to stay angry with you... so I forgive you, Amy Rose."

In a split second, fleshy arms made their way around his neck, and all he heard was, "Thank you."

It relieved Amy to hear Shadow forgive her like this. They'd been through so much, and now the battle had was finally over. Shadow could finally have a better understanding of how Amy did want to be there for him; whereas Amy could see that he appreciated it, and only needed more love and support along the way.

* * *

It was two more days until the time estimated by Tails would end, so it was time to end their adventure-combat-fun filled vacation. On this third to final day, the sky was a light blue while the sun blazed its heat.

On all the adventures Sonic had, he had to admit this vacation on Chao Island turned out to be one of the best. He would miss running alongside Speedy or helping the little guy eat his fruit, and the same to everyone else and their Chao.

Amy tried to be most calm when she explained what'd happened to everyone's tents and their belongings inside of them, but she also mentioned already teaching Bokkun and the others a valuable lesson.

Wave wouldn't have the chance to fix her grandmother's music box. That old trinket was something she knew couldn't be replaced. Still though... it was but a fragment of her past, and like she'd learned while staying on this island, "Don't spend your life in the past when there's always a bright future to look at."

Dash was apart of her newer season, along with Jet and Storm beside her; even if she didn't confess out loud.

The remains of Egg Robots were cleaned up along with the campsite materials, so a fresh new slate could indeed appear.

"Well..." Knuckles began, still upset about their ruined campsite, "I've spent enough time here. It's time I go back and check on the Master Emerald."

"No need for that, Knuckie," assured Rouge, "I asked some friends of ours to watch over it while we finish our vacation."

"What? And just who is over there sitting in front of it right now?" An anger most evident came to life on the echidna's face. His friends didn't expect less than something like this from him, but their Chao along with Spike, Mister, Doctor, and Ms. Chao were surprised by his rash temper.

Knuckles would have never guess just who Batgirl asked to take over his guarding position.

In front of the legendary gem was Espio meditating peacefully, Vector listening to alternative rock from his headphones, and finally Charmy, who buzzed around the Emerald Altar with a handheld game in his little hands.

"You asked 'those three' to guard it?"

"Well they're your friends too, you know!"

"But-"

Knuckles was expected to answer, but he seemed to have trouble formulating an answer.

Rouge smirked as she figured this out. "I'm waiting for an answer..."

"Oh, whatever!"

Ever since Kamimi released Amy from her job, Shadow spent more time by himself; Amy didn't know what the cause of it was except that ever since they came together, he still preferred spending alone time.

The Ultimate Lifeform could be seen standing on a tall cliff, so Amy gazed up at him while the rest of her friends stayed by their campsite engaging in conversation. She hadn't had to mind about Rosey wanting to join her because the roseate Chao instead joined the circle of other Chao that lay away from her main friends.

"You're not gonna spend the rest of the day with your new boyfriend?"

Amy turned around and found Rouge looking at her with a hand placed on her waist.

"Oh, yeah, but until then he said he needed some time alone to think."

Rouge was Shadow's best friend since Maria and knew how he was, but also knew that Amy were important to him. She cared only for him besides herself, so it made the bat happy to see he'd finally worked things out with Amy and wanted to start a new life with her.

"You did good, Pinky," Rouge placed an unexpected hand on the younger female's shoulder, "Keep him in check whenever he gets out of hand, kay?"

"Um, okay, I'll try to remember that," Amy replied with a sweatdrop on her forehead.

"Rouge..."

Both her and Amy looked back as Tails had worried them with his nervous tone.

"You might want to come over here and see what Pearl did."

Once they did just that, the girls were left shocked and amazed at the same time. White eggs with blue and yellow polka-dots sat in front of their Chao, meaning to represent only one thing.

"Cheese and Choco are going to be great parents when their baby hatches!" Cream was too over-excited to realize what actually took place just seconds ago.

"Uhhh... Amy?" Sweat beaded down Sonic's face as he nervously rubbed his head.

As they'd now brought a new life into existence, Rosey stepped over to Flash and laid a sweet kiss on his cheek, making the speedy creature blush.

"Spike!" Knuckles, personally, was outraged. And the first person to be victimized was Mr. Chao. "You! Why did you sit here and let this happen?"

"I understand you being shocked, but this is apart of the Chao cycle. Your Chao has reached maturity so this was bound to happen anyway."

"So this is how he gets back at her after the way she cheated him out of the Chao Race Medal?" Knuckles referred to Pearl.

By his owner's expression, Spike knew he was in serious trouble. The power Chao whined in fear and while Pearl moved to stand in front of him as if to protect him.

"Pearl!" Rouge rushed over and took the white Chao into her arms.

"Rosey," Amy found the idea of mating to be so adorable and cute. She knelt down in front of the new mother and parted her lips. "Do you really love Flash?"

Like so, Rosey nodded her head with a, "Yes".

"Then good! Be the best Chao mommy you can be."

After smiling at her Chao, Amy stood up and sent the same reaction to Sonic. It was necessary to let him know she were fine with their Chao starting a family.

He responded by giving a thumbs up even though a nervous chuckle still escaped his lips.

Knuckles attempted to snatch his Chao, but Spike broke free while Pearl did the same to Rouge. Their rebellious actions proved just how serious they were about their feelings towards each other.

This couldn't have been happening.

"You're not bothered by this?" Knuckles queried Rouge.

"Well... I was for a while, but I think our Chao were made for each other."

Rouge's words stayed in Knuckles's mind as he looked at Spike and Pearl. There must have been a spark if they chose to make a baby. If Pearl hadn't used trickery during the race, then Knuckles probably would have more respect for the flying Chao.

The red male's thoughts were interrupted as tiny arms embraced him. When he looked down, it was... Pearl?

Before he knew it, Rouge experienced the same thing with Spike clutching onto her. Neither treasure hunter knew what was taking place. The hugs from each of their Chao felt soft and warm.

"They want to make sure you guys approve of them starting a family."

Rouge and Knuckles both noticed Amy standing beside them as she gave this explanation. "Isn't it cute?"

When Rouge looked down at Spike and saw his encouraged smile, she knew how to answer.

"Well I don't have a problem with it. As long as his 'dad' is okay with it," the bat shifted her eyes to Knuckles.

In the end, Knuckles felt just as 'defeated'. "Yeah... I approve of them." And he didn't care about showing a smile on his own lips.

While these emotional moments took place, Wave had carried a detailed conversation with Jet, going over the method Amy created where they purchase Chao that match their body colors.

And so intrigued by this, Jet asked his ally, "So why did you get a green egg?"

Rouge hadn't been too far away to eavesdrop on this. 'She' knew why Wave picked the color of Jet, so the huntress walked over to them and awaited an answer along with their other friends.

Wave didn't know how much of others surrounding her she could take. Why did it matter about the color of Dash anyway?

"I never said I would follow their trend," the Babylon Rouge spun around with a flat tone.

"Geez, I was just curious!" Jet turned away and crossed his arms.

Jet would never understand how a girl's mind worked it seemed. But he did know one thing... it began as he and Wave turned to face each other again.

"So, how do I get a Chao?"

* * *

Enough time had been spent to think over things; why he'd been sent to this place, why he felt Amy's words, how things were now that he'd open himself up to Amy... and how things would be now that he'd made that decision.

If not for her, he didn't know where life would take him, except that he would still be alone and confused. But not anymore... for Maria, he would allow others to show they cared... for Amy to show him real happiness and not a sense that would lead to more tragedy.

The dark hedgehog began down the mountain expecting to rejoin his cohorts and see what they were up to, when at the same time Amy came his way and ended up bumping into him.

She stopped in front of him and could be seen with both arms behind her back. "So are you ready to get your Chao?"

Judging by her tone, Amy must've thought Shadow wouldn't mind this idea, but...

"Chao? We never discussed that."

"I didn't think we would need to," a small frown developed on Amy's face as she put a hand to her waist. "Helping this island repopulate is going to need help from everyone, including the Ultimate Lifeform." Amy grinned at this last segment of her response.

"Hmph!"

This kind of response from Shadow would never go away, and Amy was okay with that. He acted the total opposite always and it was considered normal. It brought a loving smile to her lips because deep down everyone knew Shadow could be soft.

"Well, there's always talking about it later. For now why don't we see what the others are up to?"

Rather than stay on this topic, Amy figured later would be a better time to sit down and talk. In the meantime, she intertwined her fingers with his, and together, they started walking down the mountain; illustratingwhat was the beginning of their lives together. And to better things, the couple made a second promise to each other: to help the other grow and always look forward no matter what the obstacle was.


End file.
